Fast rookie: Erik Jones paces final Sprint Cup practice at Kansas Speedway
Rookie Erik Jones, who is about to make his first start in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, led the way during the final Happy Hour practice for Saturday night's SpongeBob SquarePants 400 at Kansas Speedway.
Jones ran a best lap of 191.306 miles per hour in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Jones is filling in this weekend for the injured Kyle Busch, who is expected to return to competition in the near future.
"It's pretty cool to be fastest in practice," said Jones, who will make his first start tomorrow. "I know it's just practice, but it's still pretty cool."
Second during Happy Hour was defending race winner Jeff Gordon, the only three-time Kansas winner, lapped the 1.5-mile track at 191.184 mph in his iconic No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
"This has been a great track for us ever since we started coming here and winning the first two races here," Gordon said. "I've always enjoyed this race track. It's suited my driving style. The transitions are kind of forgiving and well-laid out. ... This year we're certainly optimistic about coming back here with how well we ran here last year that we can repeat that performance. We're certainly excited about the weekend."
Joey Logano was third, followed by Martin Truex Jr. and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Take a look at the full practice results and the best 10 consecutive-lap average:
