Daniel Suarez tops Friday's first Cup practice at Michigan

Suarez, who has been fast in practices at both Charlotte and Pocono in recent weeks, topped Friday’s first session at Michigan with an average lap speed of 188.882 mph.

His Stewart-Haas Racing teammate, Clint Bowyer, was second (188.659 mph) and Austin Dillon was third (188.501 mph). Joey Logano and Kyle Larson completed the top-five.

Michigan was the site of Suarez’s first NASCAR Xfinity Series win June 2016, when he became the first Mexican-born driver to win a NASCAR national series race.

SHR swept both Michigan races last season with Clint Bowyer capturing the June victory and Kevin Harvick earning the win in August.

“For the last couple of years, I have been very jealous of the Ford power at Michigan. Now, I’m very excited because I’m with Ford Performance and Stewart-Haas Racing,” he said.

“I’m looking forward to closing the middle of the season, and who knows, we might even put the No. 41 Mustang in Victory Lane.”

Rounding out the top-10 in practice were Erik Jones, Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Paul Menard and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Ryan Blaney got loose while drafting near Bowyer midway through the session but was able to save his No. 12 Ford from hitting the wall.

Both Jones and Chris Buescher had to sit out the final 15 minutes of practice for failing pre-race inspection twice each last weekend at Pocono.

Cla	#	Driver		Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Mph
1	41	Daniel Suarez		Ford	26	38.119			188.882
2	14	Clint Bowyer		Ford	28	38.164	0.045	0.045	188.659
3	3	Austin Dillon		Chevrolet	29	38.196	0.077	0.032	188.501
4	22	Joey Logano		Ford	30	38.291	0.172	0.095	188.034
5	42	Kyle Larson		Chevrolet	31	38.318	0.199	0.027	187.901
6	20	Erik Jones		Toyota	36	38.323	0.204	0.005	187.877
7	2	Brad Keselowski		Ford	27	38.337	0.218	0.014	187.808
8	1	Kurt Busch		Chevrolet	40	38.402	0.283	0.065	187.490
9	21	Paul Menard		Ford	27	38.451	0.332	0.049	187.251
10	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.		Ford	24	38.452	0.333	0.001	187.246
11	18	Kyle Busch		Toyota	26	38.460	0.341	0.008	187.207
12	8	Daniel Hemric		Chevrolet	28	38.463	0.344	0.003	187.193
13	19	Martin Truex Jr.		Toyota	25	38.465	0.346	0.002	187.183
14	10	Aric Almirola		Ford	22	38.470	0.351	0.005	187.159
15	12	Ryan Blaney		Ford	29	38.481	0.362	0.011	187.105
16	48	Jimmie Johnson		Chevrolet	44	38.486	0.367	0.005	187.081
17	9	Chase Elliott		Chevrolet	31	38.509	0.390	0.023	186.969
18	88	Alex Bowman		Chevrolet	30	38.533	0.414	0.024	186.853
19	6	Ryan Newman		Ford	36	38.536	0.417	0.003	186.838
20	37	Chris Buescher		Chevrolet	27	38.540	0.421	0.004	186.819
21	11	Denny Hamlin		Toyota	39	38.547	0.428	0.007	186.785
22	47	Ryan Preece		Chevrolet	25	38.584	0.465	0.037	186.606
23	4	Kevin Harvick		Ford	31	38.606	0.487	0.022	186.500
24	24	William Byron		Chevrolet	31	38.610	0.491	0.004	186.480
25	95	Matt DiBenedetto		Toyota	25	38.625	0.506	0.015	186.408
26	43	Darrell Wallace Jr.		Chevrolet	31	38.668	0.549	0.043	186.200
27	13	Ty Dillon		Chevrolet	28	38.700	0.581	0.032	186.047
28	38	David Ragan		Ford	24	38.783	0.664	0.083	185.648
29	36	Matt Tifft		Ford	24	38.788	0.669	0.005	185.624
30	34	Michael McDowell		Ford	18	38.863	0.744	0.075	185.266
31	32	Corey Lajoie		Ford	13	38.880	0.761	0.017	185.185
32	51	Kyle Weatherman		Chevrolet	18	39.573	1.454	0.693	181.942
33	00	Landon Cassill		Chevrolet	21	39.576	1.457	0.003	181.928
34	15	Garrett Smithley		Chevrolet	20	39.924	1.805	0.348	180.343
35	77	Quin Houff		Chevrolet	7	39.935	1.816	0.011	180.293
36	52	Josh Bilicki		Ford	8	40.118	1.999	0.183	179.471