Truex tops final practice while Edwards leads title contenders

Truex, who tailed the four Chasers onto the track, shot up the speed chart in his initial run. He was seventh quick in second practice, but the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing team changed the rear end housing after discovering fluid leaking from the car. The team made four runs during final practice.

Carl Edwards was second quick (174.031mph) in single-lap runs followed by Ryan Newman (172.723mph), AJ Allmendinger (172.502mph)., Chase Elliott 172.408mph), Matt Kenseth (172.265mph), Denny Hamlin (172.254mph), Joey Logano (171.832mph), Tony Stewart (171.603) and Jimmie Johnson (171.587mph).

Five minutes into the session, NASCAR called a caution for debris in the restart zone while Truex led the field after seven laps. Logano was still eighth after his first seven laps, Johnson was 10th and Busch ran 12th.

Crew chief Chad Knaus asked Johnson whether he hit the air hose in Turn 4.

"I just went over it," Johnson said during the caution. "I feel like it touched the splitter, but didn't go under the nose of the car.”

Johnson returned to the track about 15 minutes later and completed an additional nine laps, but wasn’t crazy how the car felt through the ends of the track. Johnson completed 36 laps following three rounds.

Brad Keselowski’s 52 laps were the most completed in Happy Hour.

Polesitter Kevin Harvick posted the Best 10 Consecutive Lap Average of 168.286mph, followed by Kyle Larson (167.618mph), rookie Ryan Blaney (167.097mph), Austin Dillon (165.807mph) and Chaser Carl Edwards (165.689mph). Matt DiBenedetto, Keselowski, Jamie McMurray, Johnson and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top 10 in the category. Chasers Kyle Busch and Joey Logano were 13th and 21st, respectively.

Logano described his car as "OK", following the session.

"We need to work on our stuff a little bit," Logano said. "I know we've been on both sides of the fence, and we haven't been the fastest yet, so we'll keep working on it."

Cla	#	Driver	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Mph
1	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	40	30.983			174.289
2	19	Carl Edwards	Toyota	44	31.029	0.046	0.046	174.031
3	31	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	39	31.264	0.281	0.235	172.723
4	47	A.J. Allmendinger	Chevrolet	38	31.304	0.321	0.040	172.502
5	24	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	41	31.321	0.338	0.017	172.408
6	20	Matt Kenseth	Toyota	30	31.347	0.364	0.026	172.265
7	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	37	31.349	0.366	0.002	172.254
8	22	Joey Logano	Ford	40	31.426	0.443	0.077	171.832
9	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	41	31.468	0.485	0.042	171.603
10	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	36	31.471	0.488	0.003	171.587