Dale Earnhardt Jr. has never been known as a great road-course racer. After all, NASCAR's most popular driver has never won at Watkins Glen or the site of Sunday's race, Sonoma Raceway.
But Junior never has had a race car as fast as the one he was driving Friday at the 10-turn, 1.99-mile Northern California road course. Earnhardt wheeled the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to the top time in the second Sprint Cup practice with a speed of 95.298 mph (75.175 seconds).
"Right off the truck, man, we were really fast," Earnhardt said during Friday's media availability.