Johnson returns to form at Vegas with fast practice

LAS VEGAS -- Jimmie Johnson is back.

The three-time defending Sprint Cup Series champion, who suffered through what car owner Rick Hendrick called his team's worst race ever last year at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, backed up his strong qualifying run by topping the speed charts in Saturday's final practice for the Shelby 427.

What a difference it was from last year for Johnson, whose team completely missed the setup on the 1.5-mile desert facility and finished a distant two laps down. The No. 48 team learned from that experience, bringing a new setup, and the results showed on the race track. Saturday, he looked more like the Johnson who won three in a row at Las Vegas between 2005-07.

"We are better here, especially compared to last year and how bad we were here," said Johnson, who posted a top speed of 182.587 mph. "This is a nice surprise."

Johnson's Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Jeff Gordon, posted the second-fastest speed in final practice. Former Indianapolis 500 champion Sam Hornish Jr. was a surprising third, with Las Vegas native Kurt Busch fourth and former track winner Mark Martin fifth.

"I think that we were pretty good during the last session," Hornish said. "We started off way too tight and made some adjustments to loosen the car up a bit. We ran a lot of laps and I feel real comfortable with the track. The crew on the Mobil 1 Dodge was really busy [Saturday] and even busier [Friday] when I tore the car up a bit. I'm proud of the car they gave me and all the work they did to get us ready. I think that as a team we're getting better and better every week. I'm looking forward to [Sunday] and getting out there and racing." (Continued)