NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
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CUP: Johnson Paces Practice
Jimmie Johnson lapped Las Vegas Motor Speedway at 188.140 miles per hour...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted March 09, 2012   Las Vegas, NV
Jimmie Johnson came up short in his bid for victory at Texas Motor Speedway. (Photo: Getty Images)
Jimmie Johnson set the pace during Friday’s only round of NASCAR Sprint Cup practice for Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Johnson’s best lap in his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was 188.140 miles per hour, which put him atop the speed charts. This could be Johnson’s last race for a while with crew chief Chad Knaus and car chief Ron Malec who are appealing their six-race suspension after Johnson’s car flunked tech at Daytona.

Second fast was the No. 15 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota of Clint Bowyer, who ran 188.134 mph. He was followed by reigning Cup champ Tony Stewart at 188.127 mph. Then came the Fords of Marcos Ambrose and Greg Biffle, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. sixth in a second Hendrick Chevy.

Completing the top 10 were Carl Edwards, Kasey Kahne, Mark Marin and Kevin Harvick.

Qualifying takes place at 6:30 p.m ET and will be televised on SPEED.

The 90-minute session began eventfully, as Juan Pablo Montoya bounced off the wall at the exit to Turn 4 on his first lap.

“It sucks,” said Montoya, who famously opened the year by hitting the jet dryer in the Daytona 500 and has had a bad start to the season. “It was our first lap. Felt really good in three and four. Going into one, got a little tight over the bumps. I got on the gas, and it just stepped out on me. I thought, "My God, I was in the fence." So it sucks. I mean everybody on this Clorox team has been working their butts off. We tested this week. I thought we made a lot of gains and the car looked pretty promising. But it's still early in the weekend.”

Montoya wasn’t the only one with problems. Kyle Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota suffered minor front-end damage apparently caused by striking a broken brake rotor from Montoya’s car, as did Jeff Burton.

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.
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