Bower leads 2nd practice at Sonoma

Road racing veterans Marcos Ambrose and defending race winner Clint Bowyer split leaderboard honors in a pair of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practices Friday afternoon at Sonoma Raceway.

Ambrose – who has two Sprint Cup wins to his credit, but none on the 1.99-mile Sonoma track – clocked a series-best lap of 94.049 mph with about 10 minutes left in the 1 hour, 45-minute opening session. The Australian driver for the No. 9 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford won the Coors Light Pole Award for this event last season.

Bowyer, who scored a dominant breakthrough win on a road course in last year’s race, topped the 90-minute final practice with a lap at 94.556 mph as speeds picked up over the first session.

Montoya, the former Colombian open-wheel star who scored the first of his two Sprint Cup wins at Sonoma in 2007, was second-fastest in the No. 42 Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet in the opening session. Native Californian Casey Mears, Kurt Busch and Jamie McMurray completed the top five.

The speeds in the first practice set the groupings for the Sprint Cup Series’ first experience with European-style group qualifying Saturday. That means that the fastest five drivers will go out in a group with five-second intervals between them as they leave pit road.

Bowyer was followed by McMurray, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Montoya in the top five during final practice. Ten drivers eclipsed the 94-mph plateau in the second session, compared to only Ambrose in the first.

A handful of solo spins as drivers made mock qualifying runs in the second session created highlights. Defending Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski slid off the road in Turn 10 early in the 90-minute session, just minutes before Ryan Newman looped his car at the top of the hill in Turn 2.

Points leader Jimmie Johnson skidded into a long slide in Turn 10, but escaped damage. The same couldn’t be said for Denny Hamlin, who creased the right-rear of his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in the same corner. The team opted against deploying a backup car for Sunday’s race.

Practice 2 results

Pos Driver Car Make Sponsor Speed Time Behind
1 Clint Bowyer 15 Toyota 5-Hour Energy 94.556 75.765 Leader
2 Jamie McMurray 1 Chevrolet CESSNA 94.422 75.872 -0.107
3 Kyle Busch 18 Toyota M&M's 94.380 75.906 -0.141
4 Carl Edwards 99 Ford Aflac 94.329 75.947 -0.182
5 Juan Pablo Montoya 42 Chevrolet Target 94.262 76.001 -0.236
6 Greg Biffle 16 Ford 3M 94.251 76.010 -0.245
7 Kurt Busch 78 Chevrolet Furniture Row / Sealy 94.191 76.058 -0.293
8 Marcos Ambrose 9 Ford Stanley 94.116 76.119 -0.354
9 Joey Logano 22 Ford Shell-Pennzoil 94.072 76.154 -0.389
10 Jeff Gordon 24 Chevrolet Drive To End Hunger 94.060 76.164 -0.399
11 Martin Truex Jr 56 Toyota NAPA Auto Parts 93.969 76.238 -0.473
12 Casey Mears 13 Ford GEICO 93.797 76.378 -0.613
13 Matt Kenseth 20 Toyota The Home Depot / Husky 93.648 76.499 -0.734
14 Kevin Harvick 29 Chevrolet Rheem 93.558 76.573 -0.808
15 Brad Keselowski 2 Ford Miller Lite 93.459 76.654 -0.889
16 Tony Stewart 14 Chevrolet Mobil 1 / Bass Pro Shops 93.309 76.777 -1.012
17 Denny Hamlin 11 Toyota FedEx Freight 93.304 76.781 -1.016
18 Jimmie Johnson 48 Chevrolet Lowe's 93.204 76.864 -1.099
19 Aric Almirola 43 Ford Farmland 93.145 76.912 -1.147
20 Boris Said 32 Ford Hendrickcars.com 93.091 76.957 -1.192
21 Bobby Labonte 47 Toyota Kingsford 93.060 76.983 -1.218
22 Jason Bowles 55 93.026 77.011 -1.246
23 David Gilliland 38 Ford Long John Silver's 92.983 77.046 -1.281
24 Dale Earnhardt Jr 88 Chevrolet National Guard 92.907 77.109 -1.344
25 Kasey Kahne 5 Chevrolet Farmers Insurance 92.901 77.114 -1.349
26 David Ragan 34 Ford Taco Bell 92.901 77.114 -1.349
27 Ron Fellows 33 Chevrolet Canadian Tire 92.842 77.163 -1.398
28 Paul Menard 27 Chevrolet Menards / Moen 92.836 77.168 -1.403
29 Jacques Villeneuve 51 Chevrolet TAG Heuer Avant-Garde Eyewear 92.757 77.234 -1.469
30 Jeff Burton 31 Chevrolet Utility Trailers 92.412 77.522 -1.757
31 Justin Marks 7 Chevrolet GoPro 92.371 77.557 -1.792
32 Ricky Stenhouse Jr 17 Ford Ford EcoBoost 92.272 77.640 -1.875
33 David Stremme 30 Toyota Lean 1 / Raley's / Swan Energy 92.223 77.681 -1.916
34 Travis Kvapil 93 Toyota Burger King / Dr. Pepper 92.166 77.729 -1.964
35 Danica Patrick 10 Chevrolet GoDaddy.com 91.909 77.947 -2.182
36 Ryan Newman 39 Chevrolet Haas Automation 30th Anniversary 91.863 77.986 -2.221
37 Josh Wise 35 Ford MDS Transport 91.553 78.250 -2.485
38 David Reutimann 83 Toyota Burger King / Dr. Pepper 91.406 78.376 -2.611
39 Alex Kennedy 19 Toyota MediaMaster 91.179 78.571 -2.806
40 Victor Gonzalez Jr 36 Chevrolet IMCA Dominican Republic 91.113 78.628 -2.863
41 Paulie Harraka 52 Ford Hasa Pool Products 90.832 78.871 -3.106
42 Tomy Drissi 87 Toyota TheMovieWolverine.com 88.713 80.755 -4.990