Proving he's not going to throw the towel in just yet, Carl Edwards set a blistering pace in Saturday's opening practice session for the Sprint Cup Series at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. The driver of the No. 99 Office Depot Ford Fusion ran his fastest lap on his first one out on the track, laying down a lap of 184.726 mph and 30.012 seconds.

The man sixth in the series standings, Kevin Harvick, was second fastest in the hour-long session. The 2001 Atlanta winner also ran his fastest lap of the session on his first at 182.189 mph and 30.430 seconds.

March's winner Kyle Busch was third fastest, followed by fellow Chase drivers Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon, Denny Hamlin, Clint Bowyer and Tony Stewart. Roush Fenway Racing?s David Ragan and Penske Racing's Kurt Busch rounded out the top-10.

The top three in the series standings - Jimmie Johnson, Greg Biffle and Jeff Burton - all ran times outside the top-10. Biffle was fourteenth fastest, with Johnson in seventeenth and Burton in nineteenth. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the only other Chase driver outside the top-15, running the sixteenth-fastest lap.

There is one more practice session scheduled for the Sprint Cup Series today, set to begin at 12 noon.Be sure to check back to HardcoreRaceFans.com for all of the latest updates and results from Atlanta Motor Speeday.