Jimmie Johnson tops Saturday morning Cup practice

Johnson put up a fast lap (174.345mph) in his first run during second practice and maintained the top speed throughout the 55-minute session.

Although he described his car as “not ideal” for qualifying, Johnson is clearly ready for Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400.

“Qualifying just isn't my thing, and I'm so much better at racing,” Johnson said. “I'm ready to run the race.”

Rookie Chase Elliott was second quick (173.332mph) followed by Chaser Carl Edwards (172.949mph), Trevor Bayne (172.739mph) and rookie Ryan Blaney (172.728mph).

Chaser Joey Logano (172.678mph) was sixth quick followed by Martin Truex Jr. (172.667mph), Jamie McMurray (172.386mph), Ryan Newman (172.150mph) and AJ Allmendinger (172.128mph).

Kyle Busch was the last Chaser on the track, waiting 12 minutes before taking his first lap. He was 28th (168.655mph) on the speed chart after his first 10 laps as Johnson remained at the top. Busch ran an additional 12 laps but never found a preferable line during the session.

Edwards led the Best 10 Consecutive Lap Averages with a speed of 169.062mph followed by Denny Hamlin (168.589mph), Elliott (168.260mph) Ryan Newman (168.054mph) and Alex Bowman (168.027mph). McMurray, Paul Menard, polesitter Kevin Harvick, Austin Dillon and Kyle Busch rounded out the top 10 in the category.

Thirty-four minutes into the session, Elliott scraped the wall coming out of Turn 4 on his 28th lap. After the crew made repairs, he completed an additional 15 laps. Denny Hamlin’s 46 laps were the most completed during second practice but his best circuit was just the 16th fastest in single lap runs.

Cla	#	Driver	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Mph
1	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	24	30.973			174.345
2	24	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	43	31.154	0.181	0.181	173.332
3	19	Carl Edwards	Toyota	36	31.223	0.250	0.069	172.949
4	6	Trevor Bayne	Ford	27	31.261	0.288	0.038	172.739
5	21	Ryan Blaney	Ford	38	31.263	0.290	0.002	172.728
6	22	Joey Logano	Ford	31	31.272	0.299	0.009	172.678
7	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	27	31.274	0.301	0.002	172.667
8	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	32	31.325	0.352	0.051	172.386
9	31	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	38	31.368	0.395	0.043	172.150
10	47	A.J. Allmendinger	Chevrolet	35	31.372	0.399	0.004	172.128