Jimmie Johnson tops first NASCAR Cup practice at Texas

Johnson went to the top of the leaderboard early in the 50-minute session and remained there ending on top with an average lap speed of 189.747 mph.

Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammates, Alex Bowman (188.363 mph) and William Byron (188.180 mph) were second and fourth, respectively.

“Yeah it was good. It’s all about how you time the draft,” Byron said. “Our cars are fast in the draft and that’s good. It feels like there is more available grip in the car.”

Joey Logano ended up third and last week’s race winner, Brad Keselowski, completed the top-five.

Rounding out the Top 10 were Michael McDowell, Chris Buescher, Kurt Busch, Bubba Wallace and Ty Dillon.

About 13 minutes into the session, caution was displayed after the No. 27 Chevrolet of Reed Sorenson appeared to blow its engine and NASCAR wanted to check the track for fluid.

Cla	#	Driver		Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Mph
1	48	Jimmie Johnson		Chevrolet	8	28.459			189.747
2	88	Alex Bowman		Chevrolet	8	28.668	0.209	0.209	188.363
3	22	Joey Logano		Ford	8	28.696	0.237	0.028	188.180
4	24	William Byron		Chevrolet	10	28.696	0.237	0.000	188.180
5	2	Brad Keselowski		Ford	8	28.701	0.242	0.005	188.147
6	34	Michael McDowell		Ford	11	28.701	0.242	0.000	188.147
7	37	Chris Buescher		Chevrolet	10	28.791	0.332	0.090	187.559
8	1	Kurt Busch		Chevrolet	8	28.820	0.361	0.029	187.370
9	43	Darrell Wallace Jr.		Chevrolet	11	28.835	0.376	0.015	187.272
10	13	Ty Dillon		Chevrolet	11	28.849	0.390	0.014	187.182
11	8	Daniel Hemric		Chevrolet	9	28.860	0.401	0.011	187.110
12	3	Austin Dillon		Chevrolet	9	28.868	0.409	0.008	187.058
13	21	Paul Menard		Ford	10	28.872	0.413	0.004	187.032
14	12	Ryan Blaney		Ford	5	28.874	0.415	0.002	187.019
15	11	Denny Hamlin		Toyota	8	28.889	0.430	0.015	186.922
16	41	Daniel Suarez		Ford	8	28.894	0.435	0.005	186.890
17	38	David Ragan		Ford	10	28.905	0.446	0.011	186.819
18	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.		Ford	6	28.918	0.459	0.013	186.735
19	14	Clint Bowyer		Ford	8	28.934	0.475	0.016	186.632
20	9	Chase Elliott		Chevrolet	5	28.940	0.481	0.006	186.593
21	47	Ryan Preece		Chevrolet	11	28.953	0.494	0.013	186.509
22	20	Erik Jones		Toyota	8	28.956	0.497	0.003	186.490
23	4	Kevin Harvick		Ford	8	28.957	0.498	0.001	186.483
24	19	Martin Truex Jr.		Toyota	8	28.972	0.513	0.015	186.387
25	6	Ryan Newman		Ford	9	29.028	0.569	0.056	186.027
26	10	Aric Almirola		Ford	10	29.043	0.584	0.015	185.931
27	00	Landon Cassill		Chevrolet	11	29.067	0.608	0.024	185.778
28	42	Kyle Larson		Chevrolet	8	29.068	0.609	0.001	185.771
29	36	Matt Tifft		Ford	10	29.071	0.612	0.003	185.752
30	95	Matt DiBenedetto		Toyota	7	29.097	0.638	0.026	185.586
31	18	Kyle Busch		Toyota	8	29.116	0.657	0.019	185.465
32	32	Corey Lajoie		Ford	10	29.266	0.807	0.150	184.514
33	96	Parker Kligerman		Toyota	11	29.271	0.812	0.005	184.483
34	15	Ross Chastain		Chevrolet	2	29.628	1.169	0.357	182.260
35	52	Bayley Currey		Chevrolet	9	30.058	1.599	0.430	179.653
36	51	B.J. McLeod		Ford	5	30.064	1.605	0.006	179.617
37	27	Reed Sorenson		Chevrolet	6	30.098	1.639	0.034	179.414
38	77	Garrett Smithley		Chevrolet	1	30.309	1.850	0.211	178.165
39	66	Timmy Hill		Toyota	6	31.121	2.662	0.812	173.516