NASCAR At Homestead-Miami Speedway: Carl Edwards Outshines Tony Stewart In Sprint Cup Practices

The final Sprint Cup Series practice session of the season couldn’t have gone any better for Chase leader Carl Edwards.

Edwards ran just three laps, but was easily the fastest car during Homestead-Miami Speedway’s Happy Hour practice, posting an average lap of 171.124 mph.

David Ragan, Edwards’ Roush Fenway Racing teammate, was second-fastest at 170.913 mph. But Chase contender Tony Stewart, who goes into Sunday’s finale trailing Edwards by three points, was 28th on the practice chart.

Stewart ran 52 laps during the practice session – tied for the most of any driver.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. had been fastest in the first practice, but Edwards (who was second-fastest in the first session) is a strong threat to win the pole later today.

It’s hard to tell based on practice times whether or not Stewart is in trouble, but being in the mid-20s is certainly not a positive. Stewart, though, was close to Edwards in the first session based on his 10-lap average.

Qualifying begins at 2:40 p.m. Eastern time.