RELATED: Practice 1 results
Martin Truex Jr. set the early pace in Friday's opening NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Truex hustled the Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Toyota to a best lap of 133.562 mph around the 1.058-mile track. He'll seek his first Granite State victory in Sunday's New Hampshire 301 (1:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), the 19th of 36 points-paying Sprint Cup races this season.
Carl Edwards was second-fastest in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota, with his 133.380-mph lap bumped off the top spot late in the 85-minute session. Defending Sprint Cup champion Kyle Busch, a New Hampshire winner in this race last July, was third-best in another Gibbs entry, the No. 18 Toyota.
Kurt Busch (133.091 mph) landed the fourth-fastest lap with JGR driver Denny Hamlin (132.956) completing the top five.
Alex Bowman , substituting for Dale Earnhardt Jr. as he recovers from concussion-like symptoms, notched the 13th-fastest lap in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet. Bowman, a part-time competitor in the NASCAR XFINITY Series for JR Motorsports, is scheduled to make his first Sprint Cup start of the season in Sunday's 301-lapper.
Coors Light Pole Qualifying for the Sprint Cup Series is scheduled for 4:45 p.m. ET (NBCSN). Two additional 55-minute practices are scheduled Saturday at 10 a.m. ET (CNBC) and 12:30 p.m. ET (NBCSN).