Biffle leads opening Cup practice at Talladega

Biffle posted the fastest lap of 198.949mph after the completion of 20 laps. Biffle led the three-car Roush Fenway Racing contingent with four Fords among the top five in first practice.

“Talladega is always exciting, always full of unknowns and I think the key to success is track position at the end,” Biffle said. “Picking the right lane, Talladega is super wide; we can be four or five wide coming to the start/finish line. You never know what’s going to happen.”

AJ Allmendinger was second quick in a Chevy with a lap of 198.327mph, followed by Chris Buescher (198.261mph), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (198.261mph) and Trevor Bayne (198.105mph) rounding out the top five. Michael McDowell, Brian Scott, Landon Cassill, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Larson completed the top 10 in single lap runs.

Biffle’s Best 10 Consecutive Lap speed was 195.657mph. Scott was second quick (194.855mph) in the category followed by McDowell (194.531mph), Harvick (194.201mph), Aric Almirola (194.173mph), Alex Bowman (193.979mph), defending race winner Joey Logano (193.941mph), Chase Elliott (193.927mph), Danica Patrick (193.909mph) and Johnson (193.895mph).

Jamie McMurray’s 33 laps run were the most completed in the session.

Cla	#	Driver	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Mph
1	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	20	48.133			198.949
2	47	A.J. Allmendinger	Chevrolet	15	48.284	0.151	0.151	198.327
3	34	Chris Buescher	Ford	13	48.300	0.167	0.016	198.261
4	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	20	48.300	0.167	0.000	198.261
5	6	Trevor Bayne	Ford	27	48.338	0.205	0.038	198.105
6	95	Michael McDowell	Chevrolet	11	48.441	0.308	0.103	197.684
7	44	Brian Scott	Ford	26	48.490	0.357	0.049	197.484
8	38	Landon Cassill	Ford	19	48.626	0.493	0.136	196.932
9	4	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	27	48.737	0.604	0.111	196.483
10	42	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	28	48.795	0.662	0.058	196.250