Aric Almirola tops truncated NASCAR Sprint Cup test at Charlotte
Richard Petty Ford driver Aric Almirola was quickest in the final pre-season NASCAR Sprint Cup group test at Charlotte on Friday
The test had been scheduled as two days of running, but persistent rain on Thursday and continued poor weather the following morning meant it was Friday lunchtime before cars actually hit the track.
Organisers extended the test into the evening under floodlights to maximise running.
Almirola set the pace with a lap of 27.832s as the top drivers beat last year's pole speeds at the track.
Roush Fenway's Carl Edwards, Germain's Casey Mears and Almirola's team-mate Marcos Ambrose made it an all-Ford top four.
Former champion Jimmie Johnson was top Chevrolet driver in fifth, with Mark Martin completing the top six in the best of the Toyotas.
Denny Hamlin skipped the test due to the imminent birth of his first child. Michael McDowell sat in for him at Joe Gibbs Racing.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Aric Almirola Petty Ford 27.832s 2. Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Ford 27.882s + 0.050s 3. Casey Mears Germain Ford 27.924s + 0.092s 4. Marcos Ambrose Petty Ford 27.938s + 0.106s 5. Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Chevrolet 28.009s + 0.177s 6. Mark Martin Waltrip Toyota 28.032s + 0.200s 7. Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Ford 28.036s + 0.204s 8. Martin Truex Jr Waltrip Toyota 28.063s + 0.231s 9. Clint Bowyer Waltrip Toyota 28.070s + 0.238s 10. Ricky Stenhouse Jr Roush Fenway Ford 28.075s + 0.243s 11. Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet 28.092s + 0.260s 12. Kasey Kahne Hendrick Chevrolet 28.095s + 0.263s 13. Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Toyota 28.104s + 0.272s 14. Kevin Harvick Childress Chevrolet 28.108s + 0.276s 15. Joey Logano Penske Ford 28.123s + 0.291s 16. Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 28.134s + 0.302s 17. Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Toyota 28.158s + 0.326s 18. Kurt Busch Furniture Row Chevrolet 28.172s + 0.340s 19. Dale Earnhardt Jr Hendrick Chevrolet 28.194s + 0.362s 20. Ryan Newman Childress Chevrolet 28.196s + 0.364s 21. Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet 28.214s + 0.382s 22. Jeff Gordon Hendrick Chevrolet 28.216s + 0.384s 23. Jeff Burton Childress Chevrolet 28.241s + 0.409s 24. Trevor Bayne Wood Brothers Ford 28.278s + 0.446s 25. Michael McDowell Joe Gibbs Toyota 28.315s + 0.483s 26. David Stremme Swan Toyota 28.332s + 0.500s 27. Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 28.342s + 0.510s 28. Brad Keselowski Penske Ford 28.355s + 0.523s 29. Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Toyota 28.468s + 0.636s 30. Paul Menard Childress Chevrolet 28.469s + 0.637s 31. Dave Blaney Baldwin Chevrolet 28.645s + 0.813s 32. David Ragan Front Row Ford 28.752s + 0.920s 33. Scott Speed Leavine Ford 28.882s + 1.050s
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