Friday's practice recaps from Talladega

Rookie Kyle Larson was second-fastest at 195.118 mph in the Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 Chevrolet. Kasey Kahne, Jeff Gordon and Casey Mears rounded out the top five in final practice.

With teams opting to avoid potential damage with practicing in large packs, only 21 drivers took to the 2.66-mile track in the session. Matt Kenseth turned the most laps (21) with Kahne logging the second-most (20).

Three title-eligible drivers did not participate in final practice — Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick and Ryan Newman. Joey Logano did not complete a full lap at speed and was last among the 21 drivers on the leaderboard.

Harvick and Logano both have free passes into the next round of the Chase, thanks to their victories in the other Contender Round races the last two weeks. The rest of the title hopefuls will need to lock into the Eliminator Round in Sunday’s Geico 500 (2 p.m. ET, ESPN), when the field of championship-eligible drivers is shaved from 12 to eight.

Sprint Cup Series practice 1 | Results

Clint Bowyer shot to the top of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series leaderboard Friday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway, using the aerodynamic draft to clock a lap at 200.385 mph in opening practice.

Bowyer, driving the Michael Waltrip Racing No. 15 Toyota, carries two Talladega fall race victories (2010, 2011) into Sunday’s GEICO 500 (2 p.m. ET, ESPN), the sixth race of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs and the elimination finale of the three-race Contender Round. After Sunday’s event on the 2.66-mile track, the championship-eligible field will be whittled from 12 drivers to eight.

Aric Almirola was second-fastest in the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 Ford at 200.268 mph. Defending race winner Jamie McMurray ended the session third-fastest with Michael McDowell and Travis Kvapil completing the top five.

Brad Keselowski was the fastest among Chase drivers still alive in the title hunt, clocking the eighth-best lap. Joey Logano (31st-fastest) and Kevin Harvick (37th) are already clear to the next round of the playoffs with victories the last two weekends.

Three heavy hitters below the cut-off line entering the Contender Round finale — Keselowski, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Jimmie Johnson — essentially need to win Sunday’s race to control their own postseason destiny. Earnhardt was 12th-fastest and Johnson, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, 32nd-fastest.

The hourlong practice session marked the first on-track activity for the Sprint Cup drivers, and the large pack of cars fanned out to three-wide early on. Johnson was among those largely avoiding the risk of heavy traffic, but his lap times reflected the lack of aerodynamic help from other cars.

Coors Light Pole Qualifying is scheduled Saturday (4:40 p.m. ET, ESPNews) with Sprint Cup teams tackling their first go-round with a new format for restrictor-plate tracks Talladega and Daytona, announced last month. Teams will have three five-minute rounds of eliminations, with 24 of the 46 drivers making the second session and 12 drivers competing for the pole in the final stint.

Final Sprint Cup practice is scheduled later Friday from 4:30-5:20 p.m. ET (FOX Sports 1).

Camping World Truck Series practice 1 | Get results

Rookie Ben Kennedy was fastest in Friday’s first and only practice for Saturday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series fred’s 250 powered by Coca-Cola at Talladega Superspeedway.

Kennedy posted a speed of 188.902 mph on his 11th lap of the two-hour practice. Saturday will be Kennedy’s first start at the Alabama track.Second-fastest was fellow rookie Mason Mingus at 188.872 mph.

Tayler Malsam (188.857 mph), Ryan Sieg (188.835 mph) and Spencer Gallagher (188.824 mph) completed the top five fastest drivers.

Points leader Matt Crafton posted a speed of 186.585 mph and was 14th-fastest of the run.

Defending race winner Johnny Sauter was 17th-fastest (186.409 mph). Sauter is the only previous winner in the field for Saturday, and he trails teammate Crafton by 19 points in the standings.

The practice had four caution flags. The first came out early for debris at the end of pit road. The second was for No. 74 Mike Harmon who spun in Turns 3 and 4. The third was for fluid on the track in Turn 4 and the fourth and final caution came out when No. 13 Jeb Burton stopped on the track after running out of fuel.

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will return to the track for Keystone Light Pole Qualifying at 5:45 p.m. ET with TV coverage on FOX Sports 1.

Sprint Cup Series practice 2, 4:30-5:20 p.m. ET | Follow live

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