The intermediate tracks fell right into Kyle Larson‘s hands during his rookie season, and that continued Friday, with Larson setting the pace during the first practice session for the Sprint Cup Series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Friday afternoon (March 6).
Running a speed of 191.646 mph at 28.177 seconds, Larson’s Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates car was slightly less than two tenths of a second off Joey Logano‘s pole time from last year’s Kobalt 400.
Last year, Larson struggled at Las Vegas, and he finished 19th, but had five top 10s at intermediate tracks in the second half of the season.
Jeff Gordon was second on the speed charts with a time of 28.239. Brad Keselowski, David Ragan and Jamie McMurray rounded out the top 5.
Last weekend’s winner, Jimmie Johnson, was ninth in practice for Hendrick Motorsports.
Michael Annett got loose coming out of turn 4 early in practice in the No. 46 car for HScott Motorsports. He was able to keep the car off the wall and received no damage.
Making his return to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Brian Vickers ended practice in 33rd after focusing primarily on race runs throughout the day. Brett Moffitt, who filled in for Vickers at Atlanta and finished inside of the top 10, was 37th for Front Row Motorsports in the No. 34 car.
1 42 Kyle Larson Target Chevrolet 28.177 191.646
2 24 Jeff Gordon 3M Chevrolet 28.239 191.225
3 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Ford 28.267 191.035
4 18 David Ragan M&M’s Crispy Toyota 28.276 190.975
5 1 Jamie McMurray CESSNA Chevrolet 28.297 190.833
6 22 Joey Logano Pennzoil Platinum Ford 28.298 190.826
7 19 Carl Edwards Comcast Business Toyota 28.313 190.725
8 31 Ryan Newman Caterpillar Chevrolet 28.332 190.597
9 48 Jimmie Johnson Kobalt Tools Chevrolet 28.338 190.557
10 4 Kevin Harvick Jimmy John’s/Budweiser Chevrolet 28.339 190.550
11 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Office Toyota 28.340 190.543
12 20 Matt Kenseth DeWalt Toyota 28.377 190.295
13 5 Kasey Kahne Time Warner Cable Chevrolet 28.397 190.161
14 16 Greg Biffle Cheez-It Ford 28.441 189.867
15 10 Danica Patrick GoDaddy Chevrolet 28.446 189.833
16 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Nationwide Chevrolet 28.481 189.600
17 14 Tony Stewart Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet 28.511 189.401
18 95 Michael McDowell KLOVE Radio Ford 28.520 189.341
19 13 Casey Mears GEICO Chevrolet 28.524 189.314
20 15 Clint Bowyer 5-Hour Energy Toyota 28.542 189.195
21 3 Austin Dillon DOW Energy & Water Chevrolet 28.601 188.805
22 9 Sam Hornish Jr. Medallion Bank/Camping World Ford 28.623 188.659
23 33 Brian Scott(i) Whitetail Chevrolet 28.669 188.357
24 47 AJ Allmendinger Clorox Chevrolet 28.680 188.285
25 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Chevrolet 28.688 188.232
26 51 Justin Allgaier Brandt Chevrolet 28.688 188.232
27 41 Regan Smith(i) Haas Automation Chevrolet 28.689 188.225
28 7 Alex Bowman Nikko/Toy State Chevrolet 28.754 187.800
29 27 Paul Menard Quaker State/Menards Chevrolet 28.758 187.774
30 21 Ryan Blaney(i) Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford 28.817 187.389
31 43 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 28.839 187.246
32 46 Michael Annett Cypress Chevrolet 28.852 187.162
33 55 Brian Vickers Aaron’s 60th Anniversary Dream Machine 28.879 186.987
34 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Fastenal Ford 28.941 186.587
35 6 Trevor Bayne AdvoCare Ford 28.943 186.574
36 38 David Gilliland Love’s Travel Stops Ford 28.961 186.458
37 34 Brett Moffitt Shaw’s Southern Belle Seafood Ford 28.967 186.419
38 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Ford 29.068 185.771
39 35 Cole Whitt Speed Stick Ford 29.162 185.172
40 62 Brendan Gaughan(i) South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet 29.229 184.748
41 29 Reed Sorenson Toyota 29.413 183.592
42 23 JJ Yeley(i) Dr. Pepper Toyota 29.543 182.784
43 32 Mike Bliss(i) Draftdemons.com Ford 29.687 181.898
44 26 Jeb Burton # MaximFantasySports.com Toyota 29.696 181.843
45 44 Travis Kvapil(i) Phoenix Warehouse Chevrolet 29.743 181.555
46 66 Mike Wallace RoyalTeakCollection.com Chevrolet 29.962 180.228
47 40 Landon Cassill(i) Carsforsale.com Chevrolet 30.177 178.944
48 83 Matt DiBenedetto Burger King Toyota 30.254 178.489