Jimmie Johnson, the defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, was fastest in the first Cup practice session at Dover International Speedway. His No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet made a fast lap of 22.781 seconds at a speed of 158.026mph. Johnson was the only one to hit 158 miles per hour in the session.

Ryan Newman was second in his No. 39 U.S. ARMY Chevy with a lap time of 22.927 seconds at a speed of 157.020mph.

Chase for the Sprint Cup contenders Juan Pablo Montoya and Greg Biffle ended up 3rd and 4th in the session, respectively, followed by Kurt Busch in his No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge in 5th.

A.J. Allmendinger, David Reutimann, Kevin Harvick, Mark Martin and David Gilliland rounded out the top-10.

Sprint Cup Series qualifying for the AAA 400 is scheduled for 3pm ET today and will be broadcast on ESPN2.

The AAA 400 will air on ABC at 1pm ET on Sunday.

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