Roush Fenway Racing’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was fastest in opening practice of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Friday, Feb. 23.
Stenhouse turned a lap of 29.745 seconds (186.384 mph) around the 1.54-mile track in Hampton, Ga. He was seven-hundredths of a second faster than Kyle Larson, who was fastest for the majority of the session but was forced to settle for second.
Darrell Wallace Jr. turned the third fastest lap in the session, followed by Ty Dillon and Alex Bowman.
Denny Hamlin was the fastest Toyota in sixth, followed by Kevin Harvick and William Byron. Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the top 10.
Daytona 500 winner Austin Dillon was 28th fastest in the session, with a lap of 30.503 seconds (181.753 mph).
35 of the 36 drivers turned a lap during the session, with Harrison Rhodes the sole driver to not hit the track. Jimmie Johnson, who was 16th quickest, ran 23 laps, the most of any driver during the session. He has won the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 two out of the last three years.
RESULTS OF FOLDS OF HONOR QUIKTRIP 500 PRACTICE NO. 1
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. ET Friday. Coverage of the session is set to begin at 5 p.m. on FOX Sports 1.
His favorite tracks on the circuit include Barber Motorsports Park, Iowa Speedway, Martinsville Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville, and Bristol Motor Speedway.
During the season, Christian also spends time as a photographer with multiple other outlets shooting Monster Energy AMA Supercross, Minor League & Major League Baseball, and NCAA Football.