Kurt Busch leads 1-2-3 Stewart-Haas sweep in first Texas practice

Kurt Busch set the early pace in Friday's opening practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, leading a 1-2-3 sweep for Stewart-Haas Racing at Texas Motor Speedway. Busch, a one-time Texas winner, turned a best lap of 196.200 mph in the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 Ford in the first prep for Sunday's O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 (2 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Busch won the pole position at the 1.5-mile track last November with a qualifying record lap of 200.915 mph. MORE: Practice 1 results | Full schedule for Texas Kevin Harvick was second-fastest at 195.943 mph in SHR's No. 4 Ford. Harvick, who scored his first victory at the Fort Worth track last fall, has won three of the series' first six races this season. Clint Bowyer, who broke a 190-race drought two weeks ago at Martinsville Speedway, was third-fastest to seal the Stewart-Haas sweep. He ran a best lap of 195.426 mph in the No. 14 Ford. Kyle Busch claimed fourth place on the leaderboard with Ryan Blaney completing the top five in the 55-minute session. Rookie William Byron managed only the 33rd-fastest lap in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet. The team confirmed that it would change engines before Busch Pole Qualifying. Qualifying will set the field for Sunday's event and is scheduled for 5:45 p.m. ET (FS1).