Alex Bowman Paces Opening NASCAR Cup Series Practice at Fontana

Alex Bowman looked like he was cruising to a potential victory last weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, when a late caution ruined it all. However, Bowman isn’t the moping around sort, as he rocketed to the top of the speed charts in opening NASCAR Cup Series practice for this weekend’s Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway.

RELATED: NASCAR Cup Series Auto Club 400 Practice 1 Results

Bowman’s fast lap was 179.439 mph, or 40.125 sec.

Kyle Larson was second-quick in the session, but was nearly four-tenths of a second slower than Bowman.

Tyler Reddick, Kurt Busch and Matt DiBenedetto rounded out the top-five in the session.

Jimmie Johnson, who will be making what could be the final start at his hometown track, was sixth.

Early in the session Kevin Harvick had an issue with his steering box. Harvick reported that he believed his No. 4 car had an issue with the steering pump.

Harvick wound up 19th-fastest in the session.

Meanwhile, Harvick’s Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Aric Almirola also had issues with his No. 10 car as it was leaking overflow oil from the trunk of his Ford Mustang.

Almirola turned the 21st-fastest lap of practice.