Clint Bowyer was the fastest in the opening round of practice ahead of Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega. Bowyer turned his fastest lap on his seventh circuit around the 2.66-mile superspeedway.
The seven fastest cars in practice are all outside the Chase. The fastest championship eligable driver was Brad Keselowski who was the eighth fastest car during Friday’s first practice.
Qualifying for the Geico 500 will take place on Sunday.
Speed Chart for Friday’s Cup Series Practice at Talladega
| RANK | CAR | DRIVER | TIME | SPEED | BEST | LAPS |
| 1 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | 47.788 | 200.385 | 7 | 23 |
| 2 | 43 | Aric Almirola | 47.816 | 200.268 | 7 | 20 |
| 3 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | 47.852 | 200.117 | 7 | 18 |
| 4 | 95 | Michael McDowell | 47.887 | 199.971 | 5 | 12 |
| 5 | 33 | Travis Kvapil | 47.908 | 199.883 | 6 | 14 |
| 6 | 42 | Kyle Larson # | 47.991 | 199.537 | 6 | 26 |
| 7 | 40 | Landon Cassill(i) | 48.052 | 199.284 | 5 | 22 |
| 8 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | 48.063 | 199.238 | 7 | 29 |
| 9 | 41 | Kurt Busch | 48.073 | 199.197 | 4 | 13 |
| 10 | 18 | Kyle Busch | 48.082 | 199.16 | 9 | 38 |
| 11 | 16 | Greg Biffle | 48.094 | 199.11 | 4 | 29 |
| 12 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 48.124 | 198.986 | 4 | 34 |
| 13 | 21 | Trevor Bayne(i) | 48.169 | 198.8 | 6 | 26 |
| 14 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | 48.21 | 198.631 | 4 | 26 |
| 15 | 66 | Michael Waltrip | 48.232 | 198.54 | 3 | 17 |
| 16 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | 48.237 | 198.52 | 4 | 41 |
| 17 | 34 | David Ragan | 48.239 | 198.512 | 4 | 21 |
| 18 | 27 | Paul Menard | 48.39 | 197.892 | 16 | 34 |
| 19 | 10 | Danica Patrick | 48.524 | 197.346 | 3 | 29 |
| 20 | 7 | Michael Annett # | 48.548 | 197.248 | 6 | 20 |
| 21 | 38 | David Gilliland | 48.614 | 196.98 | 18 | 26 |
| 22 | 13 | Casey Mears | 48.637 | 196.887 | 13 | 24 |
| 23 | 12 | Ryan Blaney(i) | 48.64 | 196.875 | 4 | 28 |
| 24 | 31 | Ryan Newman | 48.641 | 196.871 | 17 | 24 |
| 25 | 55 | Brian Vickers | 48.665 | 196.774 | 7 | 23 |
| 26 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | 48.671 | 196.75 | 19 | 22 |
| 27 | 3 | Austin Dillon # | 48.749 | 196.435 | 33 | 35 |
| 28 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | 48.773 | 196.338 | 8 | 39 |
| 29 | 98 | Josh Wise | 48.826 | 196.125 | 8 | 16 |
| 30 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 48.911 | 195.784 | 9 | 31 |
| 31 | 22 | Joey Logano | 48.913 | 195.776 | 8 | 27 |
| 32 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | 48.92 | 195.748 | 19 | 32 |
| 33 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | 48.956 | 195.604 | 10 | 25 |
| 34 | 14 | Tony Stewart | 48.982 | 195.5 | 33 | 42 |
| 35 | 51 | Justin Allgaier # | 49.002 | 195.421 | 5 | 29 |
| 36 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | 49.025 | 195.329 | 7 | 13 |
| 37 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | 49.105 | 195.011 | 5 | 36 |
| 38 | 99 | Carl Edwards | 49.109 | 194.995 | 5 | 14 |
| 39 | 29 | Joe Nemechek(i) | 49.192 | 194.666 | 15 | 24 |
| 40 | 83 | JJ Yeley(i) | 49.196 | 194.65 | 25 | 26 |
| 41 | 49 | Mike Wallace(i) | 49.216 | 194.571 | 13 | 32 |
| 42 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | 49.472 | 193.564 | 7 | 9 |
| 43 | 23 | Alex Bowman # | 49.761 | 192.44 | 17 | 18 |
| 44 | 36 | Reed Sorenson | 50.5 | 189.624 | 25 | 25 |
| 45 | 26 | Cole Whitt # | 50.966 | 187.89 | 5 | 15 |
| 46 | 32 | Terry Labonte | 51.148 | 187.221 | 9 | 17 |
