Johnson tops opening practice in Fontana

Reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson topped the opening practice leaderboard in his home state Friday at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif.

Johnson's best speed of 188.664 mph, achieved on the first of his seven laps, was enough to best a field of 43 cars.

A pair of Hendrick Motorsports teammates joined Johnson in the top five in Jeff Gordon (second, 188.511 mph) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (fourth, 187.740 mph), while Clint Bowyer (third, 187.774) and Brad Keselowski (fifth, 187.003) completed the top five.

Last week's winner at Bristol Motor Speedway, Carl Edwards, was 20th on the charts at 184.644 mph, while defending race-winner Kyle Busch (185.066 mph) was 13th.

Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano, who tangled on a last-lap push to the checkered flag in 2013 that resulted in a wreck, were 11th (185.214) and 22nd (184.398), respectively.

Austin Dillon, the highest rookie on the charts, was 17th at 184.838.

Midway through the session, Landon Cassill took major right side damage after spinning out and hitting the Turn 4 wall. His No. 40 Chevrolet caught on fire and had to be put out with fire extinguishers, but Cassill exited his car without injury. The practice was halted for an extended period while the track was cleaned.

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