A week after being the fastest man in Atlanta for much of the weekend, Kevin Harvick was the fastest man in Richmond to start the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series weekend.
Harvick drove his No. 4 Budweiser Chevrolet SS around the 0.75 mile Richmond International Raceway at a time of 20.912 seconds on his second lap. Harvick would run 79 laps in the opening session.
There are 44 cars entered into the Federated Auto Parts 400 which will take place on Saturday.
NASCAR Sprint Cup at Richmond Practice Speeds
| RANK | CAR NO. | DRIVER | TIME | SPEED | LAP | TOTAL |
| 1 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | 20.912 | 129.112 | 2 | 79 |
| 2 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | 20.962 | 128.805 | 2 | 98 |
| 3 | 22 | Joey Logano | 20.977 | 128.712 | 1 | 101 |
| 4 | 55 | Brian Vickers | 21.025 | 128.419 | 3 | 90 |
| 5 | 99 | Carl Edwards | 21.083 | 128.065 | 2 | 79 |
| 6 | 42 | Kyle Larson # | 21.174 | 127.515 | 2 | 107 |
| 7 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | 21.2 | 127.358 | 2 | 93 |
| 8 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | 21.201 | 127.352 | 2 | 116 |
| 9 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | 21.238 | 127.131 | 2 | 89 |
| 10 | 31 | Ryan Newman | 21.265 | 126.969 | 2 | 79 |
| 11 | 16 | Greg Biffle | 21.266 | 126.963 | 2 | 89 |
| 12 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 21.365 | 126.375 | 3 | 100 |
| 13 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | 21.406 | 126.133 | 3 | 68 |
| 14 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | 21.423 | 126.033 | 3 | 98 |
| 15 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | 21.427 | 126.009 | 3 | 120 |
| 16 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 21.439 | 125.939 | 3 | 64 |
| 17 | 27 | Paul Menard | 21.44 | 125.933 | 2 | 83 |
| 18 | 18 | Kyle Busch | 21.493 | 125.622 | 2 | 91 |
| 19 | 3 | Austin Dillon # | 21.523 | 125.447 | 6 | 86 |
| 20 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | 21.527 | 125.424 | 5 | 78 |
| 21 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | 21.561 | 125.226 | 4 | 118 |
| 22 | 10 | Danica Patrick | 21.579 | 125.122 | 4 | 95 |
| 23 | 14 | Tony Stewart | 21.682 | 124.527 | 4 | 41 |
| 24 | 41 | Kurt Busch | 21.738 | 124.206 | 5 | 100 |
| 25 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | 21.767 | 124.041 | 10 | 72 |
| 26 | 7 | Michael Annett # | 21.774 | 124.001 | 3 | 56 |
| 27 | 32 | Travis Kvapil | 21.848 | 123.581 | 3 | 69 |
| 28 | 43 | Aric Almirola | 21.872 | 123.446 | 2 | 85 |
| 29 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | 21.875 | 123.429 | 3 | 76 |
| 30 | 51 | Justin Allgaier | 21.91 | 123.231 | 4 | 81 |
| 31 | 38 | David Gilliland | 21.922 | 123.164 | 3 | 60 |
| 32 | 23 | Alex Bowman # | 21.979 | 122.845 | 2 | 78 |
| 33 | 34 | David Ragan | 22.027 | 122.577 | 5 | 66 |
| 34 | 13 | Casey Mears | 22.043 | 122.488 | 5 | 75 |
| 35 | 36 | Reed Sorenson | 22.057 | 122.41 | 5 | 61 |
| 36 | 83 | Ryan Truex # | 22.066 | 122.36 | 5 | 58 |
| 37 | 40 | Landon Cassill(i) | 22.109 | 122.122 | 4 | 67 |
| 38 | 90 | David Stremme | 22.244 | 121.381 | 8 | 52 |
| 39 | 26 | Cole Whitt # | 22.295 | 121.103 | 4 | 72 |
| 40 | 98 | Josh Wise | 22.325 | 120.941 | 7 | 55 |
| 41 | 37 | Mike Bliss(i) | 22.348 | 120.816 | 4 | 44 |
| 42 | 93 | JJ Yeley(i) | 22.504 | 119.979 | 2 | 10 |
| 43 | 75 | Clay Rogers | 22.792 | 118.463 | 33 | 34 |
| 44 | 66 | Joe Nemechek(i) | 23.251 | 116.124 | 3 | 28 |
