LAS VEGAS, Nev. (March 4, 2011) – Roush Fenway Racing topped the charts during the first Sprint Cup practice on Friday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, with four Fords Fusions occupying the top five positions on the board.
Matt Kenseth led the field, covering the 1.5-mile oval in 28.939 seconds (186.599 mph). David Ragan was second in the No. 6 UPS Ford. Carl Edwards was fourth fastest and Greg Biffle was fifth.
“Our Ford is really fast,” said Ragan. “Everybody has been working really hard and I think that is evident with Carl and Matt and Greg and some of the other Fords that unloaded fast. It makes life a lot easier when you all unload fast like that. I am really happy with our Ford.
“Even in the Nationwide practice I was watching and you hear everyone talking about the bumps in turn one and I have been trying to find a sweet spot where I could drive around them and I kind of got so pumped up that I got such a good run coming off of four that I didn’t really hit my marks getting into turn one.
“Our car has so much grip that I can get back to the throttle really early. We will make a couple of minor adjustments and try to go get a good qualifying lap for our UPS team.”
The teams are preparing for Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 400 Sprint Cup race. Roush Fenway is looking for its 15th NASCAR win at Las Vegas and its seventh in the Sprint Cup Series.
Edward’s No. 60 Ford Mustang was fastest in the morning’s Nationwide practice session for Roush Fenway as well, followed by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in the No. 6 Easy Feet Ford. Trevor Bayne was in the top 10 in both Nationwide practice sessions on Friday.
The teams return to action tomorrow with Sprint Cup practice slated for 1:10 p.m. The session will be televised live on SPEED.
