Final Talladega practice ends with Jimmie Johnson on top

Johnson, who has two wins on the 2.66-mile track, posted the top single lap speed of 196.386mph. He also has nothing to lose on Sunday since his win at Charlotte Motor Speedway locked the No. 48 team into the Round of 8.

“We haven’t taken anything for granted and we raced last weekend going for a win,” Johnson said. “We will do the same this weekend in Talladega. It is nice to not have to worry about advancing with Talladega being the cut-off race, but our speedway program is outstanding and we will have a great Lowe’s Chevy for this weekend.

“It's going to be an interesting race with so many good guys going for the Round of 8 and this being their last opportunity to make it through. It's going to be wild.”

Matt Kenseth was second quick with a lap of 196,338mph followed by rookie Chase Elliott (196.334mph) and Carl Edwards (196.330mph). Alex Bowman, the only non-Chaser in the top five, ran a lap of 196.330mph.

Kasey Kahne was sixth fastest on the speed chart with a lap of 196.330mph followed by Paul Menard (196.302mph), Ryan Reed (196.266mph), Kyle Busch (196.262mph) and Martin Truex Jr., (196.250mph). Reed is hoping to make his Sprint Cup debut this weekend in the No. 99 Ford with 41 cars in the field.

Only 25 drivers participated in Happy Hour. Hamlin, who was 11th fastest, completed 38 circuits, the most in the session.

Cla	#	Driver	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Mph
1	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	16	48.761			196.386
2	20	Matt Kenseth	Toyota	29	48.773	0.012	0.012	196.338
3	24	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	24	48.774	0.013	0.001	196.334
4	19	Carl Edwards	Toyota	19	48.775	0.014	0.001	196.330
5	88	Alex Bowman	Chevrolet	21	48.775	0.014	0.000	196.330
6	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	19	48.775	0.014	0.000	196.330
7	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	8	48.782	0.021	0.007	196.302
8	99	Ryan Reed	Ford	19	48.791	0.030	0.009	196.266
9	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	28	48.792	0.031	0.001	196.262
10	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	21	48.795	0.034	0.003	196.250