FORT WORTH, Texas (November 2, 2012) – Penske Racing’s Brad Keselowski ran the fastest lap Saturday in the first of two “Happy Hour” Sprint Cup Series practices for the AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Keselowski (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge), who is starting eighth, posted a fast lap 186.929 miles per hour among the 36 laps he ran during the 50-minute session in which all 43 cars participated.
AAA Texas 500 polesitter Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet) was second at 186.864 and was followed by Denny Hamlin (No. 11 FedEx Toyota) at 186.066 mph, Greg Biffle (No. 16 3M Ford) at 185.950 mph and Carl Edwards (No. 99 Fastenal Ford) at 185.312 mph, respectively.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will close out “Happy Hour” practice with the final one-hour session beginning at 4:45 p.m. CT.
Frontstretch tickets for Sunday’s AAA Texas 500, the eighth race in the 10-event Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, are still available by visiting www.texasmotorspeedway.com or by calling (817) 215-8500.
| Car | Driver | Speed |
| 1 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | 186.929 |
| 2 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | 186.864 |
| 3 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | 186.066 |
| 4 | 16 | Greg Biffle | 185.950 |
| 5 | 99 | Carl Edwards | 185.312 |
| 6 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | 185.223 |
| 7 | 18 | Kyle Busch | 185.096 |
| 8 | 14 | Tony Stewart | 185.020 |
| 9 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | 184.875 |
| 10 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | 184.344 |
| 11 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | 184.275 |
| 12 | 20 | Joey Logano | 184.080 |
| 13 | 43 | Aric Alrmirola | 183.980 |
| 14 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | 183.786 |
| 15 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | 183.736 |
| 16 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 183.567 |
| 17 | 22 | Sam Hornish Jr.(i) | 183.499 |
| 18 | 55 | Mark Martin | 182.896 |
| 19 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | 182.679 |
| 20 | 27 | Paul Menard | 182.587 |
| 21 | 39 | Ryan Newman | 181.953 |
| 22 | 42 | Juan Pablo Montoya | 181.861 |
| 23 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | 181.293 |
| 24 | 78 | Kurt Busch | 181.099 |
| 25 | 31 | Jeff Burton | 181.032 |
| 26 | 51 | AJ Allmendinger | 180.138 |
| 27 | 21 | Trevor Bayne(i) | 178.903 |
| 28 | 34 | David Ragan | 178.843 |
| 29 | 13 | Casey Mears | 178.383 |
| 30 | 93 | Travis Kvapil | 178.100 |
| 31 | 98 | Michael McDowell | 178.042 |
| 32 | 38 | David Gilliland | 177.521 |
| 33 | 47 | Bobby Labonte | 177.468 |
| 34 | 91 | Reed Sorenson(i) | 177.288 |
| 35 | 10 | Danica Patrick(i) | 177.101 |
| 36 | 83 | Landon Cassill | 177.078 |
| 37 | 37 | JJ Yeley | 176.991 |
| 38 | 32 | Ken Schrader | 176.499 |
| 39 | 95 | Scott Speed | 176.177 |
| 40 | 26 | Josh Wise # | 176.062 |
| 41 | 36 | Dave Blaney | 175.547 |
| 42 | 19 | Mike Bliss(i) | 175.387 |
| 43 | 87 | Joe Nemechek(i) | 170.816 |
| # Denotes
Rookie
(i) Ineligible for driver
points in this series |