Hamlin tops opening Cup Talladega practice at 204.904 m

Denny Hamlin
Denny Hamlin

JGR Toyota driver Denny Hamlin posted the fastest lap of the season in the first of two Cup practice sessions Friday at Talladega Superspeedway.

Hamlin topped the field with a lap of 204.904 mph. He was followed by Kevin Harvick (203.688 mph), Kyle Busch (203.684), Corey LaJoie (203.407) and Michael McDowell (203.386).

Matt Crafton, who will be on standby for Paul Menard this weekend, ran a few laps in the session.

Practice 1 Results

Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed Behind Gap
1 11 Denny Hamlin (P) FedEx Ground Toyota 46.734 204.904 —.— —.—
2 4 Kevin Harvick (P) Busch Light Ford 47.013 203.688 -0.279 -0.279
3 18 Kyle Busch (P) M&M's Hazelnut Toyota 47.014 203.684 -0.280 -0.001
4 32 Corey LaJoie VisoneRV.com Ford 47.078 203.407 -0.344 -0.064
5 34 Michael McDowell Love's Travel Stops Ford 47.083 203.386 -0.349 -0.005
6 20 Erik Jones DeWalt Toyota 47.106 203.286 -0.372 -0.023
7 15 Ross Chastain(i) Low-T Center Chevrolet 47.123 203.213 -0.389 -0.017
8 *62 Brendan Gaughan(i) BeardOilDistributing/SouthPointHotel 47.174 202.993 -0.440 -0.051
9 37 Chris Buescher Louisiana Hot Sauce Chevrolet 47.178 202.976 -0.444 -0.004
10 95 Matt DiBenedetto One Bite Toyota 47.207 202.851 -0.473 -0.029
11 21 P. Menard / M. Menards/Tarkett Ford 47.220 202.795 -0.486 -0.013
12 6 Ryan Newman Wyndham Rewards Ford 47.229 202.757 -0.495 -0.009
13 38 David Ragan Envision Ford 47.262 202.615 -0.528 -0.033
14 42 Kyle Larson (P) McDonald's Chevrolet 47.310 202.410 -0.576 -0.048
15 22 Joey Logano (P) Shell Pennzoil Ford 47.337 202.294 -0.603 -0.027
16 13 Ty Dillon GEICO Chevrolet 47.350 202.239 -0.616 -0.013
17 12 Ryan Blaney (P) Dent Wizard Ford 47.354 202.222 -0.620 -0.004
18 47 Ryan Preece # Kroger Chevrolet 47.369 202.158 -0.635 -0.015
19 41 Daniel Suarez Haas Automation Ford 47.393 202.055 -0.659 -0.024
20 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr SunnyD Ford 47.426 201.915 -0.692 -0.033
21 10 Aric Almirola Smithfield Racin' for Bacon Ford 47.437 201.868 -0.703 -0.011
22 2 Brad Keselowski (P) Miller Lite Ford 47.442 201.846 -0.708 -0.005
23 14 Clint Bowyer (P) Rush/Mobil Delvac 1 Ford 47.445 201.834 -0.711 -0.003
24 43 Bubba Wallace Victory Junction Chevrolet 47.478 201.693 -0.744 -0.033
25 19 Martin Truex Jr (P) Bass Pro Shops Toyota 47.489 201.647 -0.755 -0.011
26 9 Chase Elliott (P) NAPA Night Vision Chevrolet 47.491 201.638 -0.757 -0.002
27 8 Daniel Hemrick # Liberty National/RCR 50th Chevrolet 47.496 201.617 -0.762 -0.005
28 88 Alex Bowman (P) Nationwide/Amazon Echo Auto Chevy 47.502 201.592 -0.768 -0.006
29 3 Austin Dillon American Ethanol/RCR 50th Chevrolet 47.503 201.587 -0.769 -0.001
30 24 William Byron (P) Axalta Chevrolet 47.512 201.549 -0.778 -0.009
31 1 Kurt Busch Monster Energy Chevrolet 47.516 201.532 -0.782 -0.004
32 48 Jimmie Johnson Ally Chevrolet 47.533 201.460 -0.799 -0.017
33 36 Matt Tifft # Surface Sunscreen/Tunity Ford 47.797 200.347 -1.063 -0.264
34 *96 Parker Kligerman(i) TRD 40th Anniversary Toyota 50.674 188.973 -3.940 -2.877
35 51 Austin Theriault JACOB COMPANIES Ford 50.845 188.337 -4.111 -0.171
36 77 Blake Jones Tennessee Shine Co. Chevrolet 51.054 187.566 -4.320 -0.209
37 00 Landon Cassill(i) Graybar/Superior Essex Chevrolet 51.203 187.020 -4.469 -0.149
38 *66 Joey Gase(i) Fan Memories at Richmond Raceway 51.319 186.598 -4.585 -0.116
39 *27 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 52.454 182.560 -5.720 -1.135
40 52 Spencer Boyd(i) Medicine Shoppe Chevrolet 53.073 180.431 -6.339 -0.619