PRACTICE 3: Results
Martin Truex Jr. topped the leaderboard in Saturday’s final Sprint Cup Series practice at Charlotte Motor Speedway at 186.387 mph in the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota.
Truex holds the pole for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 (6 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, Sirius XM NASCAR Radio).
Kurt Busch, who led the practice session earlier in the day, was right behind him in the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet at 185.733 mph.
Rounding out the top five in the 50-minute session were Jimmie Johnson in the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet (185.401 mph), Joey Logano in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford (185.109 mph) and Greg Biffle in the No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford (184.938 mph).
PRACTICE 2: Results
Earlier in the day, Busch led the pack at 191.002 mph. Busch, who holds the record for the fastest lap around the 1.5-mile North Carolina oval, will roll off the grid 13th Sunday.
In that same session, seven-time Charlotte winner Johnson was second-fastest, propelling his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet at 190.617 mph.
Sunday’s pole-sitter Truex Jr. recorded the third-fastest lap (190.061 mph) in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota, while Joe Gibbs Racing‘s Carl Edwards (189.887 mph) and Roush Fenway Racing‘s Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (189.414 mph) rounded out the top five.
Series points leader Kevin Harvick ranked seventh on the speed charts (189.301 mph) in morning session and 24th in the final session (183.150 mph).
The red flag flew late in the first 55-minute session, after smoke began blowing for the left front of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s No. 88 ride. The track returned to green shortly after Earnhardt’s Chevrolet — which was later determined to be an issue with the seal on the power steering box — made it to the garage.