Joey Logano tops first Cup practice; Elliott changes engines

Logano bolted to the top of the leaderboard late in the session with an average lap speed of 96.657 mph. Martin Truex Jr. was second (96.176 mph) and last weekend’s race winner, Denny Hamlin, ended up third (95.966 mph).

Clint Bowyer was fourth and Kyle Busch completed the top-five.

Rounding out the top-10 speeds were Chris Buescher, Ryan Blaney, Aric Almirola, Daniel Suarez and Jimmie Johnson.

Prior to the start of the first practice, Matt Tifft, driver of the No. 36 Ford, was transported to a local hospital for evaluation.

Truck series driver Matt Crafton practiced Titt’s car and posted the 31st-fastest speed.

Less than five minutes into the session, flames and smoke began pouring out of the back of Chase Elliott’s No. 9 Chevrolet. He immediately brought the car to a stop on the track and got out.

Elliott’s car was diagnosed with an engine failure and his team will have to change engines which means he will start Sunday’s race from the rear of the field regardless of where he qualifies on Saturday afternoon.

Truex had to sit out the final 15 minutes of first practice for failing pre-race inspection twice last weekend at Kansas.

Kevin Harvick had to sit out the final 30 minutes of practice for failing inspection three times last weekend.

Cla	#	Driver		Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Mph
1	22	Joey Logano		Ford	34	19.591			96.657
2	19	Martin Truex Jr.		Toyota	27	19.689	00.098	00.098	96.176
3	11	Denny Hamlin		Toyota	38	19.732	00.141	00.043	95.966
4	14	Clint Bowyer		Ford	45	19.755	00.164	00.023	95.854
5	18	Kyle Busch		Toyota	41	19.785	00.194	00.030	95.709
6	37	Chris Buescher		Chevrolet	35	19.811	00.220	00.026	95.583
7	12	Ryan Blaney		Ford	36	19.853	00.262	00.042	95.381
8	10	Aric Almirola		Ford	35	19.854	00.263	00.001	95.376
9	41	Daniel Suarez		Ford	42	19.881	00.290	00.027	95.247
10	48	Jimmie Johnson		Chevrolet	24	19.884	00.293	00.003	95.232
11	20	Erik Jones		Toyota	38	19.900	00.309	00.016	95.156
12	4	Kevin Harvick		Ford	25	19.901	00.310	00.001	95.151
13	42	Kyle Larson		Chevrolet	27	19.908	00.317	00.007	95.118
14	9	Chase Elliott		Chevrolet	5	19.913	00.322	00.005	95.094
15	8	Daniel Hemric		Chevrolet	40	19.914	00.323	00.001	95.089
16	88	Alex Bowman		Chevrolet	50	19.929	00.338	00.015	95.017
17	3	Austin Dillon		Chevrolet	31	19.947	00.356	00.018	94.932
18	95	Matt DiBenedetto		Toyota	58	19.956	00.365	00.009	94.889
19	38	David Ragan		Ford	42	19.957	00.366	00.001	94.884
20	1	Kurt Busch		Chevrolet	51	19.957	00.366	00.000	94.884
21	2	Brad Keselowski		Ford	25	19.961	00.370	00.004	94.865
22	21	Paul Menard		Ford	33	19.973	00.382	00.012	94.808
23	24	William Byron		Chevrolet	49	19.974	00.383	00.001	94.803
24	6	Ryan Newman		Ford	35	19.993	00.402	00.019	94.713
25	43	Darrell Wallace Jr.		Chevrolet	20	20.004	00.413	00.011	94.661
26	47	Ryan Preece		Chevrolet	35	20.013	00.422	00.009	94.618
27	34	Michael McDowell		Ford	39	20.028	00.437	00.015	94.548
28	13	Ty Dillon		Chevrolet	38	20.040	00.449	00.012	94.491
29	32	Corey Lajoie		Ford	28	20.042	00.451	00.002	94.482
30	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.		Ford	39	20.075	00.484	00.033	94.326
31	36	Matt Crafton		Ford	31	20.247	00.656	00.172	93.525
32	15	Ross Chastain		Chevrolet	29	20.384	00.793	00.137	92.896
33	27	Reed Sorenson		Chevrolet	28	20.651	01.060	00.267	91.695
34	77	Timmy Hill		Chevrolet	19	20.702	01.111	00.051	91.469
35	00	Landon Cassill		Chevrolet	33	20.716	01.125	00.014	91.408
36	51	B.J. McLeod		Chevrolet	11	20.936	01.345	00.220	90.447
37	52	Garrett Smithley		Chevrolet	18	21.027	01.436	00.091	90.056
38	53	J.J. Yeley		Chevrolet	15	21.042	01.451	00.015	89.991