Larson off to another fast start at Michigan

The last time the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series was at Michigan International Speedway Kyle Larson (above) was celebrating in Victory Lane.

Friday morning, Larson picked up where he left off by being the fastest in practice for the FireKeepers Casino 400 (Sunday, 3 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1). Larson was one of four drivers who topped 200 mph in the session.

Larson's fastest lap was 200.798 mph while Kyle Busch was second fastest at 200.619 mph. Defending race winner Joey Logano was third fastest at 200.479 mph with Martin Truex Jr. fourth fastest at 200.094 mph.

"I felt like the first run was a little bit loose, but I think the track's just kind of slick right now," Larson said during the session. "I think as the track gains grip our Cars 3 Chevy will be really good. Like I said, a little bit loose but I was pretty happy with it, so we're just going to run through a little bit of small adjustments here."

Related Stories

Jimmie Johnson, who announced a new three-year deal with Hendrick Motorsports before practice, rounded out the top five at 199.983 mph.

Jamie McMurray (199.972 mph) was sixth fastest, with Chase Elliott (199.772 mph), Clint Bowyer (199.606 mph), Ryan Blaney (199.545 mph) and Kevin Harvick (199.540 mph) rounding out the top 10.

Early in the session, Roush Fenway Racing had its Xfinity Series driver, Ryan Reed, make laps in the No. 6 Ford of Trevor Bayne. Bayne and his wife Ashton are expecting the birth of their second child and Reed will be on standby this weekend should Bayne have to leave.

"I feel great," Reed said on driving the car. "I learned a lot right there, I know it's only three laps. You're out there for what, 90 seconds? But man, any time you can get laps in a Cup car as an Xfinity driver, as a racecar driver in general, that's really cool.

"Thank to (crew chief Matt) Puccia and Trevor for letting me hop in there. Just getting an idea of the speed and the balance between an Xfinity car and a Cup car is going to be huge, if I'm going to have to drive it."

There was one incident during the 1 hour, 25-minute session. Landon Cassill will go to a backup car after he spun in the middle of Turns 1 and 2 and backed the No. 34 hard into the wall. The crash occurred with less than two minutes remaining in the session.