AVONDALE, Ariz. — Report by Race Chaser Online West Coast Correspondent Ryan O’Hara — NASCAR photo —
Competition was fierce in the opening NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice session at Phoenix International Raceway, in advance of Sunday’s CampingWorld.com 500.
And under bright and sunny skies, someone not named Kevin Harvick was the fastest on the race track — for the first time in a while.
Harvick, who was fastest in four of six practice sessions at Phoenix a year ago, was fourth quickest, but it was Daytona 500 champion Joey Logano who took over the throne — turning a best lap of 138.771 mph in the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford.
His Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski made it a sweep of the top two spots with a best lap of 138.750 mph, just four thousandths of a second off of Logano’s top lap.
Rounding out the rest of the top five were Kasey Kahne (138.424 mph), Harvick (138.132 mph) and Denny Hamlin (138.090 mph).
While Harvick was quickest for a majority of the practice session, several other drivers took their shots at the defending series champion. Kurt Busch was the first, topping the scoring pylon briefly in his first start back from suspension but falling to 17th by the end of practice. Ryan Newman, Martin Truex Jr. and six-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson also held the top spot at some point during first practice.
2012 Phoenix winner Denny Hamlin has seven top-three finishes at Phoenix International Racewway and stands as the second-favorite driver (or driver not named Harvick) to win at Zoomtown USA. Phoenix has tended to be a track where one driver dominates practice, leaving the rest of the field to play catch-up.
And when asked if the rules changes created more competition, or if practices would give fans the measuring stick of what to expect come race time, Hamlin said onlookers need to wait till Sunday to make a judgment on the favorites.
“You might have to ask that on Sunday,” Hamlin said of the competition and the effects of the new rules package. “Passing will be difficult. Passing has been difficult. Passing has been difficult here really ever since the repave, but I think it will be even more difficult with less gear, less horsepower, tires won’t wear out as much. You can’t really go by practice because different people are going into qualifying trim, so they jump up to the top, and the guys who do race trim in group qualifying will jump back up.”
“I think a lot of the switching you saw in speed in practice isn’t really indicative of what we are going to see for racing.”
Cup drivers will return to the track for Coors Light Pole Qualifying at 7:50 p.m. Eastern (4:50 p.m. local), live on FOX Sports 2.
RESULTS: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Practice 1; Phoenix International Raceway; March 13, 2015
- Joey Logano
- Brad Keselowski
- Kasey Kahne
- Kevin Harvick
- Denny Hamlin
- Jamie McMurray
- Ryan Newman
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Matt Kenseth
- Jeff Gordon
- Martin Truex Jr.
- David Ragan
- Carl Edwards
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Jimmie Johnson
- Brian Vickers
- Kurt Busch
- Kyle Larson
- A.J. Allmendinger
- Greg Biffle
- Paul Menard
- Casey Mears
- Danica Patrick
- Justin Allgaier
- Clint Bowyer
- Tony Stewart
- Sam Hornish Jr.
- Austin Dillon
- Landon Cassill
- David Gilliland
- Alex Bowman
- Trevor Bayne
- Brett Moffitt
- Aric Almirola
- Cole Whitt
- Josh Wise
- Michael Annett
- Matt DiBenedetto
- Mike Bliss
- Jeb Burton
- J.J. Yeley
- Alex Kennedy
- Travis Kvapil
- Brendan Gaughan
- Tanner Berryhill