Martin Truex Jr. fastest in Friday's Cup practice at Homestead

Truex was the first to go out in Friday’s lone practice session and quickly posted what would turn out to be the fastest average lap of the session (173.997 mph).  The No. 78 Furniture Row Racing team only completed five laps in the 1 hour, 20-minute session.

Fellow title contender Kyle Busch (173.299 mph) was second and Clint Bowyer third (172.977 mph). Chase Elliott and title contender Kevin Harvick completed the top-five.

Joey Logano, the fourth driver eligible to win the championship on Sunday, ended up 16th-fastest.

“I feel like just trying to relish the opportunity, trying to take advantage of the opportunity the best we know how, and I think that’s all we’re trying to do here,” Truex said of trying to win a second consecutive Cup title.

“I know no matter what happens, we’re going to give it our all, and we’re going to celebrate Sunday night as a group just because of the last five years have been an unbelievable ride.

“It’s been, as far as racing goes, by far the time of my life.”

FRR will shut down at season’s end and Truex and crew chief, Cole Pearn, will move to Joe Gibbs Racing next season.

Rounding out the Top 10 of Friday’s practice were Kurt Busch, Austin Dillon, Erik Jones, Jamie McMurray and Brad Keselowski.

The session was briefly placed under caution one time to check for oil on the track.

Elliott was forced to sit out the final 15 minutes of practice after his No. 9 Chevrolet was late to inspection last weekend at Phoenix.

Cla	#	Driver	4506	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Mph
1	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	5	31.035			173.997
2	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	7	31.160	0.125	0.125	173.299
3	14	Clint Bowyer	Ford	7	31.218	0.183	0.058	172.977
4	9	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	7	31.232	0.197	0.014	172.900
5	4	Kevin Harvick	Ford	5	31.245	0.210	0.013	172.828
6	41	Kurt Busch	Ford	5	31.262	0.227	0.017	172.734
7	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	9	31.273	0.238	0.011	172.673
8	20	Erik Jones	Toyota	5	31.282	0.247	0.009	172.623
9	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	7	31.285	0.250	0.003	172.607
10	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	5	31.322	0.287	0.037	172.403
11	42	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	5	31.324	0.289	0.002	172.392
12	31	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	9	31.328	0.293	0.004	172.370
13	88	Alex Bowman	Chevrolet	14	31.340	0.305	0.012	172.304
14	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	5	31.356	0.321	0.016	172.216
15	21	Paul Menard	Ford	5	31.356	0.321	0.000	172.216
16	22	Joey Logano	Ford	5	31.360	0.325	0.004	172.194
17	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	7	31.408	0.373	0.048	171.931
18	10	Aric Almirola	Ford	5	31.416	0.381	0.008	171.887
19	6	Matt Kenseth	Ford	5	31.421	0.386	0.005	171.860
20	12	Ryan Blaney	Ford	7	31.428	0.393	0.007	171.821
21	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	5	31.478	0.443	0.050	171.548
22	34	Michael McDowell	Ford	11	31.479	0.444	0.001	171.543
23	47	A.J. Allmendinger	Chevrolet	19	31.497	0.462	0.018	171.445
24	24	William Byron	Chevrolet	13	31.520	0.485	0.023	171.320
25	19	Daniel Suarez	Toyota	3	31.533	0.498	0.013	171.249
26	37	Chris Buescher	Chevrolet	7	31.643	0.608	0.110	170.654
27	43	Darrell Wallace Jr.	Chevrolet	7	31.705	0.670	0.062	170.320
28	95	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	9	31.821	0.786	0.116	169.699
29	32	Matt DiBenedetto	Ford	9	31.918	0.883	0.097	169.184
30	38	David Ragan	Ford	18	31.925	0.890	0.007	169.146
31	13	Ty Dillon	Chevrolet	26	31.961	0.926	0.036	168.956
32	00	Landon Cassill	Chevrolet	5	32.169	1.134	0.208	167.863
33	23	J.J. Yeley	Ford	6	32.471	1.436	0.302	166.302
34	72	Corey Lajoie	Chevrolet	20	32.790	1.755	0.319	164.684
35	51	B.J. McLeod	Ford	3	33.192	2.157	0.402	162.690
36	99	Kyle Weatherman	Chevrolet	8	33.278	2.243	0.086	162.269
37	97	Tanner Berryhill	Toyota	4	33.382	2.347	0.104	161.764
38	15	Ross Chastain	Chevrolet	3	33.393	2.358	0.011	161.711
39	66	Timmy Hill	Toyota	5	33.812	2.777	0.419	159.707

Take a virtual lap around Homestead-Miami Speedway with NASCAR Heat 3: