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[/media-credit]Carl Edwards was the quickest in the first morning session of practice here at the Bristol Motor Speedway. Edwards is carrying the #99 Cheez-It Ford this weekend. Edwards is a two-time winner here at Bristol in the Sprint Cup Series and he also has one runner-up finish which he got in this race one year ago to Kyle Busch. Edwards is looking forward to trying to grab his third career Bristol pole during qualifying later today.
A.J. Allmendinger was a surprising second quickest. Allmendinger has had a rough start to the 2012 season. He rear-ended Denny Hamlin on pit road at Daytona, wrecked at Phoenix, and ran into more trouble at Las Vegas when he finished 37th. Allmendinger should just focus on finishing the race this weekend. His best finish here at Bristol is 12th.
Marcos Ambrose was third quickest and he finished third here in the fall of 2009 when Kyle Busch held off Mark Martin. Expect Ambrose to be near the front towards the end of the race. Do not underestimate him.
Joey Logano’s best finish here at this track is only 13th, but Logano has had a big turnaround in performance from his past three seasons. He was fourth quickest in practice and I expect him to win maybe a couple races in 2012.
5-time Bristol winner Jeff Gordon rounded out the Top 5. Gordon dominated the fall event last year, but Brad Keselowski was able to speed through the pit lane to gain the track position needed to win.
Ryan Newman, Regan Smith, Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr., and favorite to win the race Kyle Busch rounded out the rest of the Top 10.
Who is going to get the pole for the Food City 500!? Watch on Speed!
