Kasey Kahne topped the speed chart in Thursday's opening practice session for Saturday night's Bank of America 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Kahne toured the 1.5-mile oval at 191.455 mph in the No.4 Red Bull Toyota.

Paul Menard had the second fastest lap at 191.333 mph with Greg Biffle, Mark Martin and Regan Smith completing the top five.

Sixth through 10th were Marcos Ambrose, Denny Hamlin, A.J. Allmendinger, Trevor Bayne and Jimmie Johnson.

Carl Edwards leads the 2011 Chase for the Sprint Cup by one point over Kevin Harvick. Edwards was 14th in the first practice while Harvick occupied 19th.

Sprint Cup qualifying is set to begin tonight at 7:10 p.m. ET.

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