Kevin Harvick leads opening Sprint Cup practice at Charlotte
 |
| Kevin Harvick |
| Pete McCole/AR1 |
Kevin Harvick paced the Thursday's opening Sprint Cup practice session for Saturday night's Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the opening race of Round 2 of the Chase for the Sprint Cup
Harvick turned in a lap of 27.870 seconds (193.757 mph) in his specially hunter-themed Busch Beer Chevrolet SS. Harvick has one win so far in the Chase and is a previous winner of this event – taking the checkered flag back in 2014.
Alex Bowman – filling in for the ailing Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – was second fastest in the no. 88 Chevrolet, followed by Martin Truex, Jr., Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin, all driving Joe Gibbs Racing-prepared Toyota's.
First Practice Results
| Pos. | # | Driver | Make | Sponsor | Time | Lap | Behind |
| 1 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Chevy | Busch Beer Hunting | 193.757 | 27.870 | Leader |
| 2 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Chevy | Axalta | 192.885 | 27.996 | –0.126 |
| 3 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr | Toyota | Furniture Row | 192.623 | 28.034 | –0.164 |
| 4 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | Interstate Batteries | 192.548 | 28.045 | –0.175 |
| 5 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | FedEx Office | 192.219 | 28.093 | –0.223 |
| 6 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevy | Target | 192.198 | 28.096 | –0.226 |
| 7 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | Chevy | Kroger | 192.171 | 28.100 | –0.230 |
| 8 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Chevy | Caterpillar | 192.102 | 28.110 | –0.240 |
| 9 | 19 | Carl Edwards | Toyota | Stanley | 191.973 | 28.129 | –0.259 |
| 10 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Chevy | Haas Automation | 191.952 | 28.132 | –0.262 |
| 11 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | Pennzoil | 191.932 | 28.135 | –0.265 |
| 12 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevy | Lowe's | 191.925 | 28.136 | –0.266 |
| 13 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevy | Dow Coatings | 191.911 | 28.138 | –0.268 |
| 14 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Toyota | Dollar General | 191.891 | 28.141 | –0.271 |
| 15 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | Wurth | 191.639 | 28.178 | –0.308 |
| 16 | 21 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | Motorcraft | 191.625 | 28.180 | –0.310 |
| 17 | 24 | Chase Elliott | Chevy | 3M | 191.435 | 28.208 | –0.338 |
| 18 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevy | Great Clips | 191.002 | 28.272 | –0.402 |
| 19 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevy | Mobil 1 | 190.792 | 28.303 | –0.433 |
| 20 | 95 | Michael McDowell | Chevy | Thrivent Financial | 190.725 | 28.313 | –0.443 |
| 21 | 10 | Danica Patrick | Chevy | Aspen Dental | 190.449 | 28.354 | –0.484 |
| 22 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | Ford | SunnyD | 190.040 | 28.415 | –0.545 |
| 23 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | Advocare | 189.893 | 28.437 | –0.567 |
| 24 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevy | McDonald's | 189.833 | 28.446 | –0.576 |
| 25 | 13 | Casey Mears | Chevy | GEICO | 189.660 | 28.472 | –0.602 |
| 26 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | Chevy | 5-Hour Energy | 189.474 | 28.500 | –0.630 |
| 27 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | Ford EcoBoost | 189.347 | 28.519 | –0.649 |
| 28 | 44 | Brian Scott | Ford | Jacob Companies | 189.188 | 28.543 | –0.673 |
| 29 | 23 | David Ragan | Toyota | Dr. Pepper | 188.917 | 28.584 | –0.714 |
| 30 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Ford | Smithfield | 188.699 | 28.617 | –0.747 |
| 31 | 83 | Matt DiBenedetto | Toyota | Pink Cosmo Motors | 188.666 | 28.622 | –0.752 |
| 32 | 34 | Chris Buescher | Ford | Love’s Travel Stops | 188.285 | 28.680 | –0.810 |
| 33 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevy | Valvoline / Menards | 187.950 | 28.731 | –0.861 |
| 34 | 46 | Michael Annett | Chevy | Pilot Flying J | 185.287 | 29.144 | –1.274 |
| 35 | 38 | Landon Cassill | Ford | Rev the Vote | 184.875 | 29.209 | –1.339 |
| 36 | 7 | Regan Smith | Chevy | Nikko RC | 184.514 | 29.266 | –1.396 |
| 37 | 32 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Ford | Can – Am | 182.574 | 29.577 | –1.707 |
| 38 | 55 | Reed Sorenson | Chevy | VYDOX Plus | 182.223 | 29.634 | –1.764 |
| 39 | 98 | Cole Whitt | Chevy | VYDOX Plus | 181.464 | 29.758 | –1.888 |
| 40 | 30 | Josh Wise | Chevy | Curtis Key Plumbing | 179.766 | 30.039 | –2.16 |