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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Johnson, Hamlin Top Practice At Pocono
Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin both have something to prove this weekend...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted July 30, 2010   Long Pond, PA
Jimmie Johnson set the pace Friday afternoon at Pocono Raceway. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin, the only five-time race winners this year in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, were fast again Friday afternoon during practice for the Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway.

Qualifying for Sunday’s race starts at 3:30 p.m. ET today, and will be televised live on SPEED.

Johnson, the four-time defending Cup champion, lapped the 2.5-mile Pocono triangle at 168.944 miles per hour in his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

Hamlin, who has four victories here to Johnson’s two, was second fast in practice as his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota cranked off a best lap of 168.602 mph.

Third-fast at 168.577 mph was the Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet of Ryan Newman, one of the drivers fined by NASCAR for criticisms of the sport. Hamlin’s JGR teammate Kyle Busch was fourth, trailed by Newman’s teammate, two-time Cup champion Tony Stewart.

The second-five consisted of AJ Allmendinger, Jeff Gordon, Juan Pablo Montoya, Clint Bowyer and Greg Bowyer.

There were several minor incidents in the 90-minute session.

Hamlin spun at the exit of Turn 3 with just over five minutes gone, but he kept his car off the wall. P.J. Jones, who is subbing for Robby Gordon, and Regan Smith managed to scrape the outside walls during the session.

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100 and e-mail him at Jensen is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of Speed,” and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association and an NMPA Writer of the Year.

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