Edwards, Johnson fastest in pair of tune-up sessions
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MORE: See who was fast in Friday’s practice
Sprint Cup Series practice 2 | Results
Looking to bolster his shot to advance in NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup, Carl Edwards continued his speed on Saturday, topping the second of three Sprint Cup Series practices at Texas Motor Speedway.
The Roush Fenway Racing driver — who will close his RFR tenure at the end of the season before a move to Joe Gibbs Racing — led the way with a best speed of 196.342 mph, achieved on his first of 19 laps around the 1.5-mile circuit.
Teams battled cold temperatures for the morning practice, some choosing to wait for the track to warm up before heading out for laps.
Jimmie Johnson, looking to claim his second straight win in Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 (3 p.m. ET, ESPN), was second on the board at 195.822 mph, followed by Hendrick engine stablemate Tony Stewart (195.115), who became the first driver to turn a lap at over 200 mph during qualifying when he did so Friday night.
Martin Truex Jr. (194.918) and Marcos Ambrose (194.714) rounded out the top five, followed by a pair of Chase drivers in Ryan Newman (194.468) and Denny Hamlin (193.966).
Jeff Gordon (189.820), who currently leads the Chase field in points via his runner-up finish at Martinsville Speedway last weekend, was the lowest-placing Chase driver at 29th overall.
Sprint Cup Series final practice | Results
While he may no longer be in the running for a seventh NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship this year, Jimmie Johnson is determined to back up last year’s victory in the AAA Texas 500 (Sunday, 3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN). He’s on the right track, topping final practice at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver has improved his position in each practice session, placing eighth in the first, second in the next and then first in the final session with a best speed of 193.791 mph.
Ryan Newman, currently trailing only Jeff Gordon in the Chase for the Sprint Cup standings, was second on the leaderboard at 193.771 mph, a mere 0.003 seconds off Johnson’s pace.
Joey Logano (P4, 193.396 mph), Carl Edwards (P8, 192.755 mph) and pole-winner Matt Kenseth (P10, 191.714 mph) were the only other Chase drivers in the top 10.
Paul Menard (193.597 mph, third) and last week’s winner at Martinsville Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr. (192.954 mph, fifth), were the other drivers in the top five.
Gordon was again the slowest Chase driver, pulling into the garage 24th on the board with a best speed of 190.288 mph.
The finishing position of other Chase drivers: Kevin Harvick was 11th, Denny Hamlin was 12th and Brad Keselowski was 14th.
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