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Erik Jones fastest in Saturday's abbreviated first Cup practice

Michigan native Erik Jones led the way in Saturday morning’s abbreviated practice session at Michigan International Speedway.

Erik Jones, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Camry DeWalt

Erik Jones, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Camry DeWalt

Rusty Jarrett / NKP / Motorsport Images

Heavy fog Saturday morning delayed the start of the originally scheduled 55-minute session and even with NASCAR adding five minutes, teams only got about 15 minutes on the track.

Jones’ average lap speed at 200.150 mph remained at the top of the leaderboard the entire session. Rookie William Byron was second (199.678 mph) and Brad Keselowski third (199.358 mph). Clint Bowyer and Joey Logano completed the top-five.

“The track overall has aged pretty well over the last couple of years where it’s not so line sensitive and you don’t see anybody running up in the third groove by any means, but it’s definitely not to the point where if you get up there, you’re probably not going to wreck,” Jones said.

“It will be interesting to see as the weekend goes on especially after the Truck race with what these guys can do.”

Rounding out the Top 10 were Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, Paul Menard, pole winner Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick.

Five teams took advantage of the brief session to serve their 15-minute practice penalties.

Martin Truex Jr. was late to pre-race inspection at Watkins Glen; Kyle Busch, Daniel Suarez and Ryan Newman all failed to come to a complete stop after blowing the inner loop in practice at The Glen; and Darrell Wallace Jr. and B.J. McLeod were late to inspection Friday at Michigan.

Cla # Driver 4506 Laps Time Gap Interval Mph
1 20 United States Erik Jones  Toyota 10 35.973     200.150
2 24 United States William Byron  Chevrolet 10 36.058 0.085 0.085 199.678
3 2 United States Brad Keselowski  Ford 11 36.116 0.143 0.058 199.358
4 14 United States Clint Bowyer  Ford 10 36.137 0.164 0.021 199.242
5 22 United States Joey Logano  Ford 10 36.181 0.208 0.044 198.999
6 12 United States Ryan Blaney  Ford 11 36.186 0.213 0.005 198.972
7 88 United States Alex Bowman  Chevrolet 10 36.197 0.224 0.011 198.912
8 21 United States Paul Menard  Ford 11 36.197 0.224 0.000 198.912
9 11 United States Denny Hamlin  Toyota 11 36.210 0.237 0.013 198.840
10 4 United States Kevin Harvick  Ford 10 36.221 0.248 0.011 198.780
11 9 United States Chase Elliott  Chevrolet 10 36.278 0.305 0.057 198.467
12 42 United States Kyle Larson  Chevrolet 14 36.296 0.323 0.018 198.369
13 41 United States Kurt Busch  Ford 6 36.303 0.330 0.007 198.331
14 10 United States Aric Almirola  Ford 17 36.375 0.402 0.072 197.938
15 48 United States Jimmie Johnson  Chevrolet 9 36.406 0.433 0.031 197.770
16 37 United States Chris Buescher  Chevrolet 11 36.410 0.437 0.004 197.748
17 1 United States Jamie McMurray  Chevrolet 16 36.420 0.447 0.010 197.694
18 3 United States Austin Dillon  Chevrolet 11 36.443 0.470 0.023 197.569
19 17 United States Ricky Stenhouse Jr.  Ford 6 36.591 0.618 0.148 196.770
20 13 United States Ty Dillon  Chevrolet 12 36.682 0.709 0.091 196.282
21 47 United States A.J. Allmendinger  Chevrolet 6 36.721 0.748 0.039 196.073
22 38 United States David Ragan  Ford 6 36.815 0.842 0.094 195.572
23 00 United States Landon Cassill  Chevrolet 6 36.901 0.928 0.086 195.117
24 95 United States Kasey Kahne  Chevrolet 7 36.997 1.024 0.096 194.610
25 6 United States Trevor Bayne  Ford 6 37.021 1.048 0.024 194.484
26 32 United States Matt DiBenedetto  Ford 10 37.228 1.255 0.207 193.403
27 72 United States Corey Lajoie  Chevrolet 7 37.317 1.344 0.089 192.942
28 96 United States Jeffrey Earnhardt  Toyota 11 37.493 1.520 0.176 192.036
29 99 United States Gray Gaulding  Chevrolet 5 38.060 2.087 0.567 189.175
30 15 United States Reed Sorenson  Chevrolet 6 38.229 2.256 0.169 188.339
31 66 United States Timmy Hill  Toyota 4 38.846 2.873 0.617 185.347
32 23 Jones Blake  Toyota 15 38.854 2.881 0.008 185.309
33 18 United States Kyle Busch  Toyota          
34 78 United States Martin Truex Jr.  Toyota          
35 31 United States Ryan Newman  Chevrolet          
36 19 Mexico Daniel Suarez  Toyota          
37 43 United States Darrell Wallace Jr.  Chevrolet          
38 34 United States Michael McDowell  Ford      

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