Jimmie Johnson leads first practice at PIR
Jimmie Johnson picked up at Phoenix International Raceway where he left off on Sunday — on top of the speed chart.
Photo by: Action Sports Photography
Coming off of his win at Texas Motor Speedway, Johnson posted the fastest speed in first Sprint Cup practice on Friday with a lap of 141.827 mph on his 11th lap.
Kyle Larson (141.783 mph), Kurt Busch (141.571 mph), Carl Edwards (141.448 mph) and Jamie McMurray (141.315 mph) rounded out the top-five laps during the session.
“We got to go for it,” Busch said of the No. 41 team’s strategy for Sunday’s Quicken Loans 500. “We got to pour it all out there right now.”
Busch is currently seventh in the standings and trails points leader Jeff Gordon by 34 with one race to determine the four drivers transferring to the Champion’s Round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup next weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
His Stewart-Haas Racing teammate and defending race winner Kevin Harvick was sixth quick (141.049 mph) followed by Kasey Kahne, Martin Truex Jr., Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Kyle Busch, who completed the most laps (38).
Kurt Busch also posted the best consecutive five-lap average (137.66 mph) followed by Edwards, Kahne, Harvick and Jeff Gordon. Gordon had the best consecutive 10-lap average (136.39 mph) followed by Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer and Michael Annett.
CLICK HERE for complete session results
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