CUP: Logano Fast, Keselowski And Johnson Aren’t

Joey Logano led the first of three practice sessions at Homestead-Miami Speedway...

Tom Jensen | Posted November 16, 2012 Homestead, FL

Joey Logano was fastest in the opening round of practice for the season-ending Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Jimmie Johnson verbally tried to put the pressure on Brad Keselowski this week, and the five-time champion kept it up in Friday’s opening round of practice for the season-ending Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Keselowski and Johnson went out in the first minute of NASCAR Sprint Cup practice and ran one lap each before coming in, Keselowski going to third on the board initially, while Johnson was barely in the top 20.

With 15 minutes to go in the 2-hour practice, Johnson went out and put up the fourth-fastest speed to date, by which time Keselowski had fallen back to 11th.

But when the practice ended, Joey Logano led the way with a lap of 173.066 miles per hour in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, ahead of Mark Martin’s No. 55 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota, which ran 172.855 mph, and Carl Edwards, at 172.794 mph in the No. 99 Roush Fenway Racing Ford. Aric Almiorla and Matt Kenseth completed the top five.

Johnson ended the session 14th, five spots ahead of Keselowski, as neither man was especially fast on Friday afternoon.

SPEED will televise qualifying from Homestead tonight at 6 p.m. ET, as well as Saturday’s final Happy Hour round of practice at 3 p.m.

Keselowski holds a 20-point lead over Johnson headed into the season finale, and will win the championship no matter where Johnson finishes if he can bring the Blue Deuce home 15th or higher.

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100.

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