RELATED: Practice 1 results
Brad Keselowski rose to the top of the leaderboard in opening NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice Friday at Texas Motor Speedway.
Keselowski drove the Team Penske No. 2 Ford to a best lap of 197.059 mph around the 1.5-mile track in preparation for Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM), the eighth of 10 races in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs.
Defending series champion Kevin Harvick, driving the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Chevrolet, was second-fastest in the 85-minute session, clocking a fast lap of 196.421 mph. Carl Edwards, a three-time Texas winner, was third-best at 196.249 in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota.
Kyle Larson, Chip Ganassi Racing‘s second-year driver, was fourth-fastest. Joey Logano, who had his three-race win streak snapped last weekend after a controversial run-in with rival Matt Kenseth, drove the Team Penske No. 22 Ford to the fifth-fastest lap.
Erik Jones, the 19-year-old rookie subbing for the suspended Kenseth in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota, was eighth-fastest in first practice as he readies for his second career Sprint Cup start.
Jeff Gordon, last week’s winner at Martinsville and the first automatic qualifier for the championship finale Nov. 22 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, was 19th-fastest. His Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet showed minor damage and tire smoke from the left-rear fender in the early stages of first practice.
Jimmie Johnson, winner of two consecutive Texas events and four of the last six races in the Lone Star State, was 14th-fastest in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevrolet.
The rest of the Chase contenders: Kurt Busch (10th), Kyle Busch (11th), Martin Truex Jr. (20th).
Coors Light Pole Qualifying for the Sprint Cup Series is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. ET.