Truex leads eventful Cup practice at Sonoma

Truex best speed in single-lap runs was 95.587mph after completing 21 laps.

Denny Hamlin was second followed by Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Clint Bowyer, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chris Buescher, AJ Allmendinger, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson and Joey Logano.

Austin Dillon’s 32 laps were the most led in the session.

Bowyer was the fastest car of 15 cars in the first five minutes of practice with a speed of 93.338mph (76.753-seconds). He was running the same chassis that Tony Stewart won the SaveMart 350 with last year with modifications to accommodate the Ford engines.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. bumped the No. 14 Haas Automation Ford with his lap of 93.514mph (76.609-seconds).

Eight minutes into the session, Billy Johnson spun in his Cup debut with Richard Petty Motorsports. Johnson brought the car to the garage.

Thirty-one cars had established times when NASCAR released drivers with 15-minute practice holds — Kurt Busch, Erik Jones and Ty Dillon. Earnhardt still led the field followed by Bowyer, Truex (92.259mph), AJ Allmendinger (92.844mph) and Larson.

Just before the 30-minute mark, Jones reported he had a left front tire down. He wasn’t sure whether the flat occurred when he locked up his tires. Earnhardt still led the field and the top-five speeds had not changed. Jimmie Johnson was sixth quick with a time of 77.064-seconds followed by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (77.154-seconds), Trevor Bayne (77.190-seconds), Jamie McMurray (77.214-seconds) and Joey Logano (77.318-seconds).

Rookie Daniel Suarez, who had never been to Sonoma prior, completed 12 laps — the most of the 36 drivers.

The first caution of the practice came out 37 minutes into the session when Ty Dillon ran off course in Turn 2 and sprayed gravel on the course. NASCAR put the track back under green at the 42-minute mark.

After the first hour, Chris Buescher broke into the top-five with a lap of 76.954-seconds. He’d completed 21 circuits. Denny Hamlin vaulted over Larson with a lap of 77.037-seconds for sixth-quick. Larson, Johnson, Stenhouse and Bayne rounded out the top 10.

With 30-minutes remaining in practice, Earnhardt led the 115-minute session followed by Bowyer, Truex, Larson, Buescher, Allmendinger, Hamlin, Johnson, Stenhouse and Bayne. Buescher and Austin Dillon had completed 22 circuits — the most in the first 85 minutes.

Matt Kenseth stalled in Turn 10 with 29 minutes to go to trigger the second caution. Kenseth was 25th on the speed chart and had completed his 11th lap.

At one hour, 22 minutes into practice, Stenhouse bumped Earnhardt with a lap of 93.684mph, 76.470-seconds. With 20 minutes to go, Allmendinger moved up to third with a lap 93.422mph.

“Water temp, 225,” Dinger said. “It’s a little tight when it lands the nose, but it cuts when I need it to cut.”

Hamlin jumped up to P1 with a lap of 94.068mph with less than 15 minutes remaining in the session.

“Yeah, I’m happy with it,” Hamlin said.

Elliott broke into the top 10 with 12 minutes to go. He was 33rd prior to improving his lap to 93.320mph. Bowyer bounced back up to third. Kyle Busch moved up to seventh, followed by Logano, Kahne and Truex.

Elliott spun with eight minutes left in the session.

“I probably flat-spotted the tires,” he radioed to crew chief Alan Gustafson.

There was a different voice over the No. 2 Team Penske radio on Friday. Crew chief Paul Wolfe remained in North Carolina with his wife, Aleah, who just gave birth to their second child, Halle Lane. Brian Wilson will oversee Brad Keselowski’s efforts this weekend. Keselowski was 17th on the speed chart after the first session.

Cla	#	Driver	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Mph
1	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	20	75.740			94.587
2	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	20	76.158	0.418	0.418	94.068
3	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	18	76.470	0.730	0.312	93.684
4	14	Clint Bowyer	Ford	22	76.534	0.794	0.064	93.605
5	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	24	76.609	0.869	0.075	93.514
6	37	Chris Buescher	Chevrolet	24	76.615	0.875	0.006	93.506
7	47	A.J. Allmendinger	Chevrolet	19	76.684	0.944	0.069	93.422
8	24	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	15	76.768	1.028	0.084	93.320
9	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	29	76.804	1.064	0.036	93.276
10	22	Joey Logano	Ford	26	76.845	1.105	0.041	93.227
11	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	31	76.878	1.138	0.033	93.187
12	6	Trevor Bayne	Ford	23	76.893	1.153	0.015	93.168
13	10	Danica Patrick	Ford	27	76.921	1.181	0.028	93.135
14	42	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	20	76.935	1.195	0.014	93.118
15	4	Kevin Harvick	Ford	25	76.979	1.239	0.044	93.064
16	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	31	77.037	1.297	0.058	92.994
17	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	29	77.045	1.305	0.008	92.985
18	41	Kurt Busch	Ford	28	77.066	1.326	0.021	92.959
19	21	Ryan Blaney	Ford	25	77.194	1.454	0.128	92.805
20	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	26	77.214	1.474	0.020	92.781
21	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	28	77.412	1.672	0.198	92.544
22	43	Billy Johnson	Ford	14	77.604	1.864	0.192	92.315
23	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	32	77.612	1.872	0.008	92.305
24	31	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	21	77.746	2.006	0.134	92.146
25	95	Michael McDowell	Chevrolet	13	77.782	2.042	0.036	92.104
26	32	Matt DiBenedetto	Ford	19	77.836	2.096	0.054	92.040
27	13	Ty Dillon	Chevrolet	25	77.883	2.143	0.047	91.984
28	20	Matt Kenseth	Toyota	11	78.000	2.260	0.117	91.846
29	38	David Ragan	Ford	15	78.059	2.319	0.059	91.777
30	19	Daniel Suarez	Toyota	30	78.067	2.327	0.008	91.767
31	23	Alon Day	Toyota	16	78.113	2.373	0.046	91.713
32	34	Landon Cassill	Ford	29	78.134	2.394	0.021	91.689
33	72	Cole Whitt	Chevrolet	15	78.137	2.397	0.003	91.685
34	77	Erik Jones	Toyota	23	78.317	2.577	0.180	91.474
35	33	Boris Said	Chevrolet	4	78.754	3.014	0.437	90.967
36	51	Josh Bilicki	Chevrolet	25	81.031	5.291	2.277	88.411
37	15	Kevin O'Connell	Chevrolet	10	81.180	5.440	0.149	88.248
38	55	Tommy Regan	Chevrolet	7	83.869	8.129	2.689	85.419