Aric Almirola and Kevin Harvick were fastest in the two scheduled NASCAR Nationwide Series practice sessions Thursday at Talladega Superspeedway.

Almirola lead the opening round with a lap 194.725 mph followed by Michael Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. and Carl Edwards.

Harvick paced the final practice session with a lap of 198.044 mph. Clint Bowyer, Joey Logano, Kyle Busch and Jason Leffler completed the top-five. Harvick and Bowyer have won the last two Cup Series races at the 2.66-mile Alabama track.

Saturday's Aaron's 312 will be live on ESPN2 at 3 p.m.

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