Denny Hamlin Fastest In Opening Cup Series Practice
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| Denny Hamlin |
| Pete McCole/AR1 |
Denny Hamlin led the opening practice round for Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, knocking two of Team Penske's drivers from the top of the speed charts.
Hamlin clocked in with a lap of 28.401 seconds (190.134 mph) in the No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry, besting Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski who the fastest Fords in the session. Austin Dillon was fourth fastest, followed by Hamlin's Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Erik Jones.
10 drivers were penalized 15 minutes of practice time in the first practice due to failing pre-race inspection at Kansas Speedway and last weeks All Star event, including Austin Dillon, Jimmie Johnson and All Star Rae winner Kevin Harvick.
– Pete McCole reporting from Charlotte Motor Speedway
PRACTICE RESULTS
| Pos. | # | Driver | Sponsor/Make | Time | Speed | Best Lap | Laps | Fastest | Next |
| 1 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | FedEx Ground Toyota | 28.401 | 190.134 | 5 | 5 | —.— | —.— |
| 2 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | PPG Ford | 28.47 | 189.673 | 1 | 5 | -0.069 | -0.069 |
| 3 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Stars Stripes and Lites Ford | 28.506 | 189.434 | 1 | 5 | -0.105 | -0.036 |
| 4 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Coca-Cola Chevrolet | 28.509 | 189.414 | 5 | 7 | -0.108 | -0.003 |
| 5 | 20 | Erik Jones | Circle K Toyota | 28.532 | 189.261 | 1 | 4 | -0.131 | -0.023 |
| 6 | 9 | Chase Elliott | NAPA Auto Parts Patriotic Chevrolet | 28.562 | 189.062 | 1 | 3 | -0.161 | -0.03 |
| 7 | 19 | Daniel Suarez | Interstate Batteries Toyota | 28.585 | 188.91 | 5 | 5 | -0.184 | -0.023 |
| 8 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Bass Pro Shops/5-hour ENERGY Toyota | 28.59 | 188.877 | 3 | 5 | -0.189 | -0.005 |
| 9 | 42 | Kyle Larson | DC Solar Chevrolet | 28.596 | 188.838 | 6 | 6 | -0.195 | -0.006 |
| 10 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Smithfield Ford | 28.653 | 188.462 | 6 | 6 | -0.252 | -0.057 |
| 11 | 24 | William Byron |
Liberty University Patriotic Chevrolet | 28.68 | 188.285 | 8 | 10 | -0.279 | -0.027 |
| 12 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Fastenal Ford | 28.685 | 188.252 | 2 | 4 | -0.284 | -0.005 |
| 13 | 95 | Kasey Kahne | Thorne Chevrolet | 28.686 | 188.245 | 5 | 7 | -0.285 | -0.001 |
| 14 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Mobil 1/Busch Beer Ford | 28.702 | 188.14 | 1 | 3 | -0.301 | -0.016 |
| 15 | 18 | Kyle Busch | M&M's Red White & Blue Toyota | 28.726 | 187.983 | 5 | 5 | -0.325 | -0.024 |
| 16 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Liberty National Chevrolet | 28.736 | 187.918 | 5 | 5 | -0.335 | -0.01 |
| 17 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Haas 30 Years of the VF1 Ford | 28.738 | 187.905 | 2 | 4 | -0.337 | -0.002 |
| 18 | 37 | Chris Buescher | Cottonelle Wavy Clean Ripple Chevrolet | 28.739 | 187.898 | 5 | 7 | -0.338 | -0.001 |
| 19 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 28.774 | 187.669 | 3 | 5 | -0.373 | -0.035 |
| 20 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Monster Energy Ford | 28.797 | 187.52 | 1 | 5 | -0.396 | -0.023 |
| 21 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Nationwide Chevrolet | 28.798 | 187.513 | 1 | 6 | -0.397 | -0.001 |
| 22 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Lowe's Patriotic Chevrolet | 28.803 | 187.48 | 3 | 3 | -0.402 | -0.005 |
| 23 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | Kroger ClickList Chevrolet | 28.825 | 187.337 | 3 | 5 | -0.424 | -0.022 |
| 24 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | McDonald's Chevrolet | 28.886 | 186.942 | 1 | 5 | -0.485 | -0.061 |
| 25 | 13 | Ty Dillon | GEICO Military Chevrolet | 28.964 | 186.438 | 4 | 6 | -0.563 | -0.078 |
| 26 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Dockside Logistics Ford | 28.984 | 186.31 | 3 | 7 | -0.583 | -0.02 |
| 27 | 6 | Matt Kenseth | Wyndham Rewards Ford | 28.987 | 186.29 | 3 | 7 | -0.586 | -0.003 |
| 28 | 96 | Parker Kligerman | Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota | 29.032 | 186.002 | 5 | 5 | -0.631 | -0.045 |
| 29 | 21 | Paul Menard | Menards/Knauf Ford | 29.04 | 185.95 | 3 | 5 | -0.639 | -0.008 |
| 30 | 43 | Darrell Wallace Jr. |
Kroger/Coca-Cola Chevrolet | 29.058 | 185.835 | 3 | 6 | -0.657 | -0.018 |
| 31 | 38 | David Ragan | MDS Transport Ford | 29.101 | 185.561 | 3 | 5 | -0.7 | -0.043 |
| 32 | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Cosmo Motors Ford | 29.31 | 184.237 | 7 | 7 | -0.909 | -0.209 |
| 33 | 15 | Ross Chastain | Internetwork Engineering Chevrolet | 29.666 | 182.027 | 1 | 3 | -1.265 | -0.356 |
| 34 | 72 | Corey LaJoie | MyFreedomSmokes.com Chevrolet | 29.743 | 181.555 | 6 | 8 | -1.342 | -0.077 |
| 35 | 23 | Gray Gaulding | BK Racing Toyota | 29.939 | 180.367 | 1 | 3 | -1.538 | -0.196 |
| 36 | 55 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Angels of America's Fallen Chevrolet | 30.159 | 179.051 | 2 | 10 | -1.758 | -0.22 |
| 37 | 0 | Landon Cassill | DAIRI-O Chevrolet | 30.207 | 178.767 | 4 | 8 | -1.806 | -0.048 |
| 38 | 7 | JJ Yeley | Steakhouse Elite Chevrolet | 30.341 | 177.977 | 2 | 5 | -1.94 | -0.134 |
| 39 | *66 | Timmy Hill(i) | CrashClaimsR.Us Toyota | 30.407 | 177.591 | 1 | 2 | -2.006 | -0.066 |
| 40 | 51 | BJ McLeod(i) | Prefund Capital Chevrolet | 30.533 | 176.858 | 2 | 8 | -2.132 | -0.126 |