Race Weekend Central

Jimmie Johnson Tops 2nd 2009 NASCAR Banking 500 Practice at Charlotte

CONCORD, N.C. – In a continuation of the first practice and qualifying from yesterday, Jimmie Johnson was the fastest driver in the second practice this weekend for the NASCAR Banking 500. Johnson laid down a lap of 28.852 seconds on his very first lap on the track, which correlates to a 187.162-mph lap. Johnson has been unheaded all weekend at Charlotte.

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Jimmie Johnson Captures 2009 NASCAR Banking 500 Pole at Charlotte

Also continuing the theme of the weekend, Mark Martin was second fastest in the second practice. After being second fastest in the first practice, and qualifying on the outside of the front row during last night’s time trials, Martin was once again the bridesmaid with a lap of 29.065 seconds and a speed of 185.790 mph. While the two Hendrick drivers are the class of the field so far this weekend, Johnson is clearly the superior.

Finishing out the top five in the second practice were Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin. Biffle’s time was 29.151 seconds at 185.242 mph, Kenseth was 29.220/184.805 and Hamlin ran 29.223/184.786. All of the drivers ran their fastest lap in the first seven laps with the exception of Terry Labonte, whose fastest lap was his 14th on the track. 24 drivers set their fastest time on their first timed lap. With teams working on race setup, it would make sense because they are going out on fresh tires and then turning a large number of laps with the tires wearing out.

The second half of the top 10 included Ryan Newman sixth (29.251/184.609), Carl Edwards seventh (29.290/184.363), Kyle Busch eighth (29.315/184.206), Marcos Ambrose ninth (29.331/184.106) and Kasey Kahne was tenth (29.331/184.106). The top 10 were separated by .479 seconds. The top-39 drivers were less than one second apart with Elliott Sadler running 39th at 29.851/180.898.

Kyle Busch turned the most laps in the session with 43, followed by his teammate Denny Hamlin, who turned 41.

2009 NASCAR BANKING 500 2ND PRACTICE SPEEDS

About the author

What is it that Mike Neff doesn’t do? The writer, radio contributor and racetrack announcer coordinates the site’s local short track coverage, hitting up Saturday Night Specials across the country while tracking the sport’s future racing stars. The writer for our signature Cup post-race column, Thinkin’ Out Loud (Mondays) also sits down with Cup crew chiefs to talk shop every Friday with Tech Talk. Mike announces several shows each year for the Good Guys Rod and Custom Association. He also pops up everywhere from PRN Pit Reporters and the Press Box with Alan Smothers to SIRIUS XM Radio. He has announced at tracks all over the Southeast, starting at Millbridge Speedway. He's also announced at East Lincoln Speedway, Concord Speedway, Tri-County Speedway, Caraway Speedway, and Charlotte Motor Speedway.

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