Kenseth Posts Fastest Time in NASCAR Sprint Cup Practice

Two-time Daytona 500 winner Matt Kenseth drove his No. 20 Dollar General Toyota to the fastest lap of the day at 186.285 mph during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice session Friday on the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway 2.5-mile oval.

The 2003 Sprint Cup Series champion will look for his first win of the season Sunday during the Crown Royal Presents the John Wayne Walding 400 at the Brickyard Powered by BigMachineRecords.com.

“I felt like we had a really good hour and a half,” Kenseth said. “One of our goals was to try to get a good lap in case it does rain tomorrow and they go off of first practice speeds. We’ve been bitten by that this year, so we wanted to try to lay down a lap early when the track is as good as it could be. We were able to do that in case there’s bad weather for qualifying. Then we just worked on race trim the whole time. I feel every week as an organization we’re getting closer and faster and stronger.”

Clint Bowyer was second at 186.070 mph in the No. 15 RK Motors Charlotte Toyota, with Brad Keselowski, the winner of the inaugural Lilly Diabetes 250 Nationwide Series race in 2012 at IMS, third in 185.939 mph in the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford.

Fourth-fastest was six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion and four-time Brickyard 400 winner Jimmie Johnson at 185.647 mph in his No. 48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet. Indiana native and two-time Brickyard 400 winner Tony Stewart was 11th at 183.793 mph in his No. 14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet. Four-time Brickyard 400 winner and current NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points leader Jeff Gordon was 14th at 182.408 mph in his No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet.

David Ragan was fastest overall after two NASCAR Nationwide Series morning practice sessions, with a top speed of 181.043 mph in the No. 98 DenBeste Heavy Equipment Rental Carroll Shelby Engine Company Ford in the first practice session. The second-fastest time was turned in by Ty Dillon in the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet in 180.930 mph, also in the first practice session.

NASCAR racing will continue on the 2.5-mile IMS oval on Saturday. The Sprint Cup Series will practice at 9 a.m. and qualify at 2:10 p.m. for the Crown Royal Presents the John Wayne Walding 400 at the Brickyard Powered by BigMachineRecords.com, which takes place at 1 p.m. on Sunday. The NASCAR Nationwide Series will qualify at 12:10 p.m. Saturday and then race in the Lilly Diabetes 250 at 4:30 p.m.