In only the second Sprint Cup practice of the day – and his career – 18-year-old Erik Jones was the fastest in Friday’s final session at Kansas Speedway.
The Michigan native, who is also making his first appearance at the 1.5-mile track, waited until the session was almost over to clock the fastest speed of the 43 drivers that took the track 191.306 mph.
“There’s been a lot of people that have been involved over the past few weeks to get me ready for this,” Jones told Fox Sports 1. “I think a lot of it was preparing mentally, watching videos, watching tape, talking to Kyle (Busch) and my teammates and just trying to get the best information I could out of everybody.
“It’s pretty cool to be fastest in practice. I know it’s only practice, but it’s still pretty cool. … There’s a lot of great race car drivers. It’s just really an honor to be fastest this practice.”
Earlier in the day in the first practice session, Jones gave a preview of what might be to come, recording the ninth-fastest speed. He also had the best 10-lap average in that session.
Four-time Cup champ Jeff Gordon was second-fastest at 191.184 mph, followed by Joey Logano (190.732), Martin Truex Jr. (190.490) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (190.396).
In a strange oddity, Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart were 35th and 38th fastest in practice, but were 1st and 5th in the Best 10 Consecutive Lap Average.
Here’s how the final Sprint Cup practice played out:
1 Erik Jones … 191.306 mph … 26 laps
2 Jeff Gordon … 191.184 … 5 laps
3 Joey Logano … 190.732 … 29 laps
4 Martin Truex Jr. … 190.490 … 9 laps
5 Dale Earnhardt Jr. … 190.396 … 9 laps
6 Jamie McMurray … 190.141 … 18 laps
7 Jamie Johnson … 190.127 … 9 laps
8 Clint Bowyer … 189.900 … 7 laps
9 Brad Keselowski … 189.853 … 25 laps
10 Aric Almirola … 189.853 … 15 laps
11 Greg Biffle … 189.633 … 17 laps
12 Matt Kenseth … 189.633 … 28 laps
13 Kasey Kahne … 189.454 … 27 laps
14 Austin Dillon … 189.374 … 18 laps
15 Ryan Newman … 189.288 … 8 laps
16 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. … 189.255 … 16 laps
17 Kurt Busch … 189.102 … 27 laps
18 Denny Hamlin … 189.009 … 15 laps
19 David Ragan … 188.679 … 12 laps
20 Ty Dillon … 188.679 … 12 laps
21 Kyle Larson … 188.541 … 10 laps
22 AJ Allmendinger … 188.442 … 21 laps
23 Jeb Burton … 188.311 … 7 laps
24 Paul Menard … 188.278 .. 15 laps
25 Casey Mears … 188.147 … 20 laps
26 Carl Edwards … 187.689 … 29 laps
27 Justin Allgaier … 187.630 … 18 laps
28 Sam Hornish Jr. … 187.448 … 18 laps
29 Danica Patrick … 187.298 … 14 laps
30 Michael McDowell … 186.922 … 9 laps
31 Trevor Bayne … 186.761 … 12 laps
32 Josh Wise … 186.393 … 10 laps
33 David Gilliland … 186.188 .. 19 laps
34 Cole Whitt … 185.599 … 13 laps
35 Kevin Harvick … 185.471 … 33 laps
36 Brett Moffitt … 184.679 … 7 laps
37 Alex Bowman … 184.162 … 17 laps
38 Tony Stewart …. 184.137 … 49 laps
40 Joey Gase … 182.735 … 15 laps
41 Brendan Gaughan … 182.642 … 7 laps
42 Matt DiBenedetto … 182.205 … 10 laps
43 Landon Cassill … 180.240 … 26 laps
44 Michael Annett … 0 mph … 0 laps
Best 10 Consecutive Lap Average:
1 Kevin Harvick … 185.058
2 Carl Edwards … 184.161
3 Kasey Kahne … 183.488
4 Erik Jones … 183.459
5 Tony Stewart … 182.528
6 Joey Logano … 182.433
7 Kurt Busch … 182.119
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