With just over a minute to go in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series opening practice of the weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, Martin Truex, Jr. posted a lap at 192.892 mph boosting him to the top of the scoring pylon. The No. 78 car was the only Toyota in the top 10 on the speed charts at the conclusion of the weekend’s first practice.
Brad Keselowski was fastest until Truex clocked off a faster lap and wound up second at 192.164 mph, just over a tenth of a second behind the top speed. The No. 2 car dominated the last race at Texas, leading 312 laps before finishing second to Jimmie Johnson.
The Team Penske duo swept positions two and three as Joey Logano was third during Thursday evening’s practice at 192.143 mph.
Two Chevrolet’s rounded out the top five, with Austin Dillon fourth overall and Brian Vickers fifth.
Just outside the top five was Johnson in sixth (191.360 mph). The No. 48 team has been victorious in the last three races in the Lone Star State.
Ryan Blaney was the leading rookie in 10th, though he has two previous starts in Texas. Chase Elliott, who ran the most laps (28), was close behind in 13th.
Midway through the session, Carl Edwards was at the top of the charts, but faded to 21st as teams ran qualifying set-ups late in the session. Along with Edwards, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Kyle Busch were all outside of the top 20.
There were no incidents in the practice and no drivers ran 10 consecutive laps. Qualifying will be held on Friday afternoon at 2:45 p.m. with Happy Hour ensuing at 6:30.
Dustin joined the Frontstretch team at the beginning of the 2016 season. 2020 marks his sixth full-time season covering the sport that he grew up loving. His dream was to one day be a NASCAR journalist, thus why he attended Ithaca College (Class of 2018) to earn a journalism degree. Since the ripe age of four, he knew he wanted to be a storyteller.
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Will ColePear get another shocking week of no penalties? We shall see, stay tuned “douchy” fans!