Photo Credit: Noel Lanier
New crew chief Danny Stockman is already paying dividends for Paul Menard and the No.27 Menard’s team as Menard led the way in opening Cup Series practice at Pocono Raceway. Menard ran a quick lap of 50.722 seconds (177.438 MPH). Menard’s fast lap was .009 seconds ahead of second place Denny Hamlin.
Kyle Busch was third followed by Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick.
Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Ryan Newman, and Austin Dillon rounded out the top ten.
Notables include: Jimmie Johnson 12th, Kurt Busch 14th, Tony Stewart 15th, Kasey Kahne 16th, Ryan Blaney 17th, Brad Keselowski 19th, Kyle Larson 21st, Jeff Gordon 22nd, and Matt Kenseth 24th.
The Sprint Cup Series will return to the track later on today for qualifying at 4:15 P.M. ET.
