Ahead of this weekend’s Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the Sprint Cup Series were given a pair of bonus practice sessions on Thursday ahead of the normal weekend schedule.
In the morning session, it’d be last week’s race winner Jimmie Johnson topping the charts with a lap of 192.981 seconds. Johnson has been successful at Las Vegas in the past, scoring four wins and has the second best average finish (11.5) of active drivers.
Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin was second quickest as he looks to rebound from last week, after finishing 16th. His teammate Matt Kenseth is also hoping to rebound as well, following the pit road penalty issues. Kenseth was third quickest and has the best average finish (11.4) of active drivers.
Brian Vickers was fourth quickest as he returns behind the wheel of the No. 14 for Stewart-Haas Racing once again after filling in for Tony Stewart in the Daytona 500. His SHR teammate Danica Patrick rounded out the top-five as she searches for her first top-15 finish of the season.
Brad Keselowski was sixth quickest, followed by Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kurt Busch.
2016 NSCS Kobalt 400 First Test/Practice Session Speeds
Pos | Car | Driver | Team | Time | Speed | Lap # | # Laps | -Fastest | -Next |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Kobalt Chevrolet | 27.982 | 192.981 | 2 | 18 | —.— | —.— |
2 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | FedEx Office Toyota | 28.002 | 192.843 | 2 | 31 | -0.02 | -0.02 |
3 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | DeWalt Toyota | 28.105 | 192.137 | 4 | 33 | -0.123 | -0.103 |
4 | 14 | Brian Vickers | Mobil 1 Chevrolet | 28.189 | 191.564 | 3 | 44 | -0.207 | -0.084 |
5 | 10 | Danica Patrick | Nature’s Bakery Chevrolet | 28.241 | 191.211 | 4 | 29 | -0.259 | -0.052 |
6 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Miller Lite Ford | 28.258 | 191.096 | 2 | 32 | -0.276 | -0.017 |
7 | 18 | Kyle Busch | M&M’s 75 Toyota | 28.273 | 190.995 | 5 | 39 | -0.291 | -0.015 |
8 | *21 | Ryan Blaney # | Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford | 28.321 | 190.671 | 5 | 44 | -0.339 | -0.048 |
9 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | Fastenal Ford | 28.323 | 190.658 | 3 | 19 | -0.341 | -0.002 |
10 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Monster Energy/Haas Automation Chevrolet | 28.324 | 190.651 | 7 | 22 | -0.342 | -0.001 |
11 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 28.337 | 190.564 | 8 | 41 | -0.355 | -0.013 |
12 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Jimmy John’s Chevrolet | 28.389 | 190.215 | 8 | 26 | -0.407 | -0.052 |
13 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Target Chevrolet | 28.429 | 189.947 | 5 | 41 | -0.447 | -0.04 |
14 | 19 | Carl Edwards | ARRIS Toyota | 28.44 | 189.873 | 2 | 35 | -0.458 | -0.011 |
15 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Dow Energy & Water/Intellifresh Chevrolet | 28.475 | 189.64 | 3 | 18 | -0.493 | -0.035 |
16 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | Smith’s/Kingsford Chevrolet | 28.483 | 189.587 | 7 | 39 | -0.501 | -0.008 |
17 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Farmers Insurance Chevrolet | 28.529 | 189.281 | 17 | 41 | -0.547 | -0.046 |
18 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Cheez-It Ford | 28.532 | 189.261 | 16 | 28 | -0.55 | -0.003 |
19 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Caterpillar Chevrolet | 28.565 | 189.043 | 8 | 23 | -0.583 | -0.033 |
20 | 24 | Chase Elliott # | NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet | 28.594 | 188.851 | 10 | 45 | -0.612 | -0.029 |
21 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr | Furniture Row Toyota | 28.635 | 188.58 | 2 | 17 | -0.653 | -0.041 |
22 | 27 | Paul Menard | Dutch Boy/Menards Chevrolet | 28.646 | 188.508 | 5 | 34 | -0.664 | -0.011 |
23 | 13 | Casey Mears | GEICO Chevrolet | 28.69 | 188.219 | 8 | 28 | -0.708 | -0.044 |
24 | 34 | Chris Buescher # | Love’s Travel Stops Ford | 28.729 | 187.963 | 4 | 35 | -0.747 | -0.039 |
25 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Smithfield Ford | 28.737 | 187.911 | 8 | 25 | -0.755 | -0.008 |
26 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | AdvoCare Ford | 28.739 | 187.898 | 4 | 25 | -0.757 | -0.002 |
27 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Cessna Chevrolet | 28.782 | 187.617 | 1 | 17 | -0.8 | -0.043 |
28 | 44 | Brian Scott # | Albertsons Co/White Tail Ford | 28.897 | 186.871 | 23 | 35 | -0.915 | -0.115 |
29 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | Nationwide Chevrolet | 28.918 | 186.735 | 9 | 18 | -0.936 | -0.021 |
30 | 7 | Regan Smith | Road Rippers Street Beatz Chevrolet | 29.01 | 186.143 | 6 | 23 | -1.028 | -0.092 |
31 | 38 | Landon Cassill | MDS Transport Ford | 29.119 | 185.446 | 6 | 14 | -1.137 | -0.109 |
32 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | 5-Hour Energy Chevrolet | 29.139 | 185.319 | 2 | 12 | -1.157 | -0.02 |
33 | 46 | Michael Annett | Pilot Flying J Chevrolet | 29.566 | 182.642 | 15 | 28 | -1.584 | -0.427 |
34 | *98 | Cole Whitt | Speed Stick Chevrolet | 29.714 | 181.733 | 2 | 3 | -1.732 | -0.148 |
35 | 83 | Matt DiBenedetto | Cosmo Motors Toyota | 29.761 | 181.446 | 1 | 4 | -1.779 | -0.047 |
36 | 23 | David Ragan | Dr Pepper Toyota | 29.767 | 181.409 | 1 | 9 | -1.785 | -0.006 |
37 | 32 | Jeffrey Earnhardt # | Can-Am Ford | 29.911 | 180.536 | 15 | 20 | -1.929 | -0.144 |
38 | 95 | Michael McDowell | WRL General Contractors Chevrolet | 29.911 | 180.536 | 1 | 7 | -1.929 | 0 |
(i) Ineligible for Driver Points in this Series
# Denotes Rookie
* Required to Qualify on Time