Martin Truex Jr. hasn’t led a lap at Sonoma Raceway since taking home his second career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory in 2013. But he’s trying to change that this weekend.
The No. 78 car topped the Cup Series field during the first practice session of the weekend, setting the pace at 75.740 seconds. Denny Hamlin, who finished runner-up at Sonoma last year, ended practice in the same position as he ended last year’s race, more than four-tenths of a second behind Truex.
Matt Kenseth experienced an engine failure in the No. 20 car during practice. Billy Johnson, making his Cup debut, spun out early in the session in the No. 43 car, but did not hit anything and was able to finish the session in the 22nd position.
Ty Dillon experienced trouble during practice. He missed a corner to cause a caution. Dillon clocked in a time that put him in 27th.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Clint Bowyer and Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounded out the top five in practice.
Kyle Busch, who won at Sonoma in 2015, had the quickest 10-consecutive lap average ahead of brother Kurt Busch.
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