Surprises in practice

Dave Blaney had the fastest car in the afternoon practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana.
His top lap was at 176.199 mph, almost 2 mph better than the second fastest driver.
"Practice went real well," said Blaney, driver of the No. 22 Toyota for Bill Davis Racing. "Actually the whole weekend is going well. We felt we ran well in every practice. We made a pretty good qualifying lap. It's going well, it's been good."
Jeff Gordon was second fastest at 174.571 mph. Jimmie Johnson, the pole winner for Sunday's Pepsi 500, was third fastest at 174.448 mph.
A.J. Allmendinger, who will start on the front row with Johnson, was fifth fastest in practice at 174.364 mph.
"We're definitely strong," said Allmendinger, driver of the No. 84 Toyota for Red Bull Racing. "I think to be great we need a little bit more, but we're in the ballpark."
Riverside's David Gilliland had a top 10 car in practice. He was ninth quickest at 174.039 mph.