One down, one to go and the number one sits atop the speed charts for the first practice session for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Earnhardt Ganassi Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. was fastest overall in the opening session at the Richmond International Raceway after posting a lap of 21.943 seconds at a speed of 123.046 mph. Fresh over an impressive run at Talladega – despite getting caught up in a late race crash – Truex is showing this team is committed to running well week-in and week-out.

Stewart Haas Racing’s Ryan Newman was second-quick with a lap of 21.957 seconds at a speed of 122.968 mph.  Running up front in practice, Newman hopes for a starting spot near the front in order to save the brakes and have a shot at winning Saturday night.

“The biggest thing at Richmond is it is pretty high braking so you have to keep a brake pedal in the car all night,” Newman explained. “Track position is typically pretty important. It is hard to make up a lot of ground here. You can go from the back to the front, but it takes a long race to do it.”

David Reutimann was the fastest Toyota of the session, putting his No. 00 third on the board, while Kyle Busch was behind him in fourth. Go-or-go-homer Dave Blaney was fifth-fastest in the weekend’s opening session for the Cup cars with a lap of 22.129 seconds at a speed of 122.012 mph.

Friday morning’s practice was slowed four times, once for debris off the No. 88 after Dale Earnhardt Jr. made contact with Juan Pablo Montoya, once when Greg Biffle looped it around off Turn 4, another time for debris and finally when John Andretti made contact with the outside wall between Turns 1 and 2.

The Cup cars are currently on the track for their final practice session of the weekend, with qualifying set for 5:40pm E.T. Be sure to check back to HardcoreRaceFans.com for all of the latest from the Richmond International Raceway.

COMPLETE NASCAR CUP SERIES PRACTICE RESULTS

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