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Jimmie Johnson leads opening Sprint Cup practice at Darlington

Pete McCole

Jimmie Johnson
Pete McCole/AR1

Three-time Darlington winner Jimmie Johnson paced Saturday's opening Sprint Cup practice session for Sunday's Bojangles Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

With torrential rain from Tropical Storm Hermine washing out all of Friday's on-track activities, Saturday's opening session was the first opportunity for drivers to take to the track.

Driving a special Dale Earnhardt and David Pearson throwback paint scheme on his No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet, Johnson clocked in with a lap of 27.937 seconds (176.025 mph) during the late morning session, followed by Denny Hamlin (175.060 mph), Ryan Blaney (174.711 mph), Kyle Larson (174.544) and Ryan Newman (174.519).

Despite the fact that a tropical storm barrelled through the area just 12 hours ago, the forecast for the weekend calls for clear skies and mild temperatures with little chance of rain.

Pete McCole reporting from Darlington Raceway

Practice Results

Pos. # Driver Make Sponsor Time Lap Behind
1 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevy Lowe's 176.025 27.937 Leader
2 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota Sport Clips 175.060 28.091 –0.154
3 21 Ryan Blaney Ford Motorcraft 174.711 28.147 –0.210
4 42 Kyle Larson Chevy Target 174.544 28.174 –0.237
5 31 Ryan Newman Chevy Caterpillar 174.519 28.178 –0.241
6 2 Brad Keselowski Ford Miller Lite 174.488 28.183 –0.246
7 24 Chase Elliott Chevy NAPA Auto Parts 174.136 28.240 –0.303
8 78 Martin Truex Jr Toyota Auto-Owners Insurance 173.620 28.324 –0.387
9 27 Paul Menard Chevy Valvoline 173.417 28.357 –0.420
10 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr Ford Fastenal 173.240 28.386 –0.449
11 4 Kevin Harvick Chevy Busch Beer 173.143 28.402 –0.465
12 16 Greg Biffle Ford Hooters Ford Fusion 173.064 28.415 –0.478
13 5 Kasey Kahne Chevy LiftMaster 173.009 28.424 –0.487
14 88 Jeff Gordon Chevy Nationwide 172.802 28.458 –0.521
15 22 Joey Logano Ford Shell Pennzoil 172.735 28.469 –0.532
16 18 Kyle Busch Toyota Interstate Batteries 172.626 28.487 –0.550
17 34 Chris Buescher Ford Love’s Travel Stops 172.505 28.507 –0.570
18 20 Matt Kenseth Toyota Tide PODS 172.505 28.507 –0.570
19 41 Kurt Busch Chevy Haas VF1 172.408 28.523 –0.586
20 14 Tony Stewart Chevy Coca-Cola 172.396 28.525 –0.588
21 47 AJ Allmendinger Chevy Kroger Tyson 172.342 28.534 –0.597
22 19 Carl Edwards Toyota Arris 172.155 28.565 –0.628
23 3 Austin Dillon Chevy American Ethanol 171.968 28.596 –0.659
24 43 Aric Almirola Ford STP 171.884 28.610 –0.673
25 7 Regan Smith Chevy Nikko RC 171.872 28.612 –0.675
26 1 Jamie McMurray Chevy McDonald's 171.357 28.698 –0.761
27 13 Casey Mears Chevy GEICO 171.202 28.724 –0.787
28 6 Trevor Bayne Ford Advocare 170.649 28.817 –0.880
29 44 Brian Scott Ford Twisted Tea 170.466 28.848 –0.911
30 10 Danica Patrick Chevy Nature's Bakery 170.442 28.852 –0.915
31 15 Clint Bowyer Chevy 5-Hour Energy 170.112 28.908 –0.971
32 83 Matt DiBenedetto Toyota Orange Crush 169.689 28.980 –1.043
33 95 Michael McDowell Chevy Thrivent Financial 169.491 29.014 –1.077
34 38 Landon Cassill Ford Rumple 169.321 29.043 –1.106
35 46 Michael Annett Chevy Pilot Flying J 167.351 29.385 –1.448
36 23 David Ragan Toyota I’m a Pepper 167.095 29.430 –1.493
37 30 Josh Wise Chevy Incredible Bank 165.704 29.677 –1.740
38 98 Cole Whitt Chevy Carolina Skiff 164.101 29.967 –2.030
39 32 Jeffrey Earnhardt Ford Otter 162.975 30.174 –2.237