Clint Bowyer isn’t wasting any time making his presence known in the NASCAR Cup playoffs.
The driver of the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang was fastest in the first of two Cup practices Friday afternoon at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Bowyer ran 21 laps around the 1.5-mile track, with the final lap being the fastest of the 39-car field at 178.059 mph.
Click here for the first practice session results.
William Byron was second-fastest (177.223 mph), followed by three non-playoff entrants: Jimmie Johnson (177.148 mph), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (176.748 mph) and Austin Dillon (176.684).\
Sixth through 10th fastest were Brad Keselowski (176.678 mph), Denny Hamlin (176.471), Ty Dillon (176.396), Daniel Suarez (176.327) and Chase Elliott (176.246).
The three slowest of the 16 playoff contenders were Ryan Newman (21st fastest, 174.950 mph), and Chip Ganassi Racing teammates Kyle Larson (22nd, 174.836 mph) and Kurt Busch (23rd, 174.588).
There will be one more practice session this afternoon from 7:30 – 8:20 p.m. ET.