Jimmie Johnson scooted to the top of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series leaderboard Friday, leading a 1-2 sweep of opening practice for Hendrick Motorsports at Texas Motor Speedway.
Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet led the 50-minute session with a best lap of 189.747 mph on the 1.5-mile track. Johnson, a seven-time Texas winner, was just ahead of Hendrick teammate Alex Bowman, who secured second place with a 188.363 mph lap in the No. 88 Chevy.
RELATED: Practice 1 results
Defending series champ Joey Logano posted the third-fastest lap of the opening practice, clocking in at 188.180 mph in the Team Penske No. 22 Ford. William Byron, another Hendrick driver, was fourth-fastest, with Brad Keselowski completing the top five in the first on-track activity for the series ahead of Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 (3 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM).
Kyle Busch, a three-time Texas winner who prevailed in this race last year, was just 31st-fastest in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota.
The session was slowed by a caution period at the 13-minute mark to check the track for fluid.
Busch Pole Qualifying to set the starting lineup is scheduled for Friday at 7:40 p.m. ET (FS1, PRN, SiriusXM).
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