Bowyer leads rain shortened ‘Dega practice
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| Clint Bowyer |
Clint Bowyer led a brief practice session Friday at Talladega Superspeedway, turning a lap in his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford at 196.822 mph.
Bowyer clocked the time before the red flag came out at 2:44 p.m. ET for rain after 13 minutes, 29 seconds of action on the 2.66-mile track.
Kevin Harvick was second in his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford at 196.439 mph. Rounding out the top five were Brad Keselowski in the No. 2 Team Penske Ford, Kurt Busch in the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford and Joey Logano on the No. 22 Team Penske Ford.
The session was so abbreviated because of rain that Erik Jones and Kyle Busch completed a field-high 13 laps for the most time on the track.
The cars of Kyle Larson, Danica Patrick and Ty Dillon were scheduled to sit out the first 15 minutes of practice to serve penalties, and were not able to turn a single lap. Larson and Dillon were late to pre-race inspection at Richmond; Patrick failed pre-race LIS.
Rain in the area led to the cancelling of final practice, which had been scheduled for 4:30 p.m. ET.
Results
| Pos | No. | Driver | Sponsor | Laps | Time | Behind | Gap | Speed |
| 1 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Haas Automation Demo Days | 10 | 48.653 | 0.000 | — | 196.822 |
| 2 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Jimmy John's | 12 | 48.748 | -0.095 | -0.095 | 196.439 |
| 3 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Fitzgerald Glider Kits | 12 | 48.905 | -0.252 | -0.252 | 195.808 |
| 4 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Haas Automation / Monster Energy | 11 | 48.911 | -0.258 | -0.258 | 195.784 |
| 5 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil | 12 | 48.918 | -0.265 | -0.265 | 195.756 |
| 6 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | AdvoCare | 12 | 48.918 | -0.265 | -0.265 | 195.756 |
| 7 | 21 | Ryan Blaney | Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center | 10 | 48.920 | -0.267 | -0.267 | 195.748 |
| 8 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | Fifth Third Bank | 12 | 48.938 | -0.285 | -0.285 | 195.676 |
| 9 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Fresh From Florida | 10 | 48.965 | -0.312 | -0.312 | 195.568 |
| 10 | 19 | Daniel Suarez | ARRIS | 12 | 49.095 | -0.442 | -0.442 | 195.050 |
| 11 | 77 | Erik Jones | ToyotaCare | 13 | 49.096 | -0.443 | -0.443 | 195.046 |
| 12 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | FedEx Express | 12 | 49.105 | -0.452 | -0.452 | 195.011 |
| 13 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Circle K | 11 | 49.109 | -0.456 | -0.456 | 194.995 |
| 14 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Skittles Red, White, & Blue | 13 | 49.112 | -0.459 | -0.459 | 194.983 |
| 15 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | UniFirst | 12 | 49.118 | -0.465 | -0.465 | 194.959 |
| 16 | 24 | Chase Elliott | Hooters | 12 | 49.156 | -0.503 | -0.503 | 194.808 |
| 17 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | Nationwide | 11 | 49.350 | -0.697 | -0.697 | 194.043 |
| 18 | 95 | Michael McDowell | Winn-Dixie | 8 | 49.701 | -1.048 | -1.048 | 192.672 |
| 19 | 27 | Paul Menard | Valvoline / Menards | 5 | 49.727 | -1.074 | -1.074 | 192.571 |
| 20 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Caterpillar | 3 | 49.957 | -1.304 | -1.304 | 191.685 |
| 21 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Dow Intellifresh | 6 | 49.958 | -1.305 | -1.305 | 191.681 |
| 22 | 34 | Landon Cassill | Love's Travel Stops | 4 | 50.499 | -1.846 | -1.846 | 189.628 |
| 23 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr | Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats | 4 | 50.921 | -2.268 | -2.268 | 188.056 |
| 24 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | Kroger Click List | 8 | 51.006 | -2.353 | -2.353 | 187.743 |
| 25 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Lowe's | 5 | 51.501 | -2.848 | -2.848 | 185.938 |
| 26 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | McDonald's $1 Any Size Soft Drink | 5 | 51.535 | -2.882 | -2.882 | 185.815 |
| 27 | 23 | Gray Gaulding | SunFrog.com | 5 | 51.741 | -3.088 | -3.088 | 185.076 |
| 28 | 37 | Chris Buescher | Velveeta | 4 | 51.799 | -3.146 | -3.146 | 184.868 |
| 29 | 33 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | TBD | 3 | 51.889 | -3.236 | -3.236 | 184.548 |
| 30 | 38 | David Ragan | Camping World / Good Sam | 2 | 52.136 | -3.483 | -3.483 | 183.673 |
| 31 | *83 | Corey Lajoie | Dustless Blasting | 4 | 52.458 | -3.805 | -3.805 | 182.546 |
| 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | EJ Wade Foundation | — | 0.000 | 48.653 | 48.653 | 0.000 | |
| 33 | 13 | Ty Dillon | GEICO | — | 0.000 | 48.653 | 48.653 | 0.000 |
| 34 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Share an Ice Cold Coke | — | 0.000 | 48.653 | 48.653 | 0.000 |
| 35 | 10 | Danica Patrick | Aspen Dental | — | 0.000 | 48.653 | 48.653 | 0.000 |
| 36 | *55 | Reed Sorenson | Xchange of America | — | 0.000 | 48.653 | 48.653 | 0.000 |