Rain shortened this final practice for the drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, but that didn't stop six-time champion Jimmie Johnson in the #48 Lowes Chevrolet from putting in a time that would set a new track record in qualifying later on this afternoon.

Johnson posted a lap time of 47.544 seconds on his first lap on track with a speed of 189.298 mph. The track had been washed clean from the earlier rain and this made the times that the teams were setting a lot quicker than has been seen at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the past.

Practice was supposed to begin at 9 AM ET, but with a weather front moving through the area, NASCAR delayed the start until the track was dry at exactly 10:27 AM ET when the green flag was given to the drivers. Dale Earnhardt Jr in the #88 car was first out onto the track, followed by most of the field of drivers.

Earnhardt Jr's time was a 47.934 second lap and was good enough to put him into 2nd behind Johnson after their first few laps on track.

The first group of drivers out onto the 2.5 mile Superspeedway totaled 26 with Reed Sorenson in the #36 car as the slowest in 26th with a time of 50.657 seconds.

With five minutes elapsed Johnson, Earnhardt Jr, and Stewart Haas Racing driver Kevin Harvick made up the top three. Clint Bowyer in the #15 car got loose behind Denny Hamlin in the #11 as they were rounding turn two, but he as able to keep his car from hitting the outside wall.

Most teams had decided to run their qualifying trims on the cars, as they only had a short amount of time left for this practice session, but most of them would have wanted more time on their race trims in preparation for tomorrow's race.

After ten minutes, Matt Kenseth in the Dollar General #20 car jumped into 3rd place and Juan Pablo Montoya, who is making only his second start of the season in the #12 car, was 7th on the scoring charts.

Tony Stewart, who is one of the best drivers at Indianapolis with seven consecutive top ten finishes, was 15th early on. Stewart also saw the track he owns, Eldora Speedway, host the MudSummer Classic.

Twelve minutes in and Jeff Gordon in the #24 went into 2nd, with a speed of 187.856 mph. On his first lap, Gordon brought his car back down pit lane straight away. Also, Danica Patrick in the GoDaddy #10 car, who has two top ten finishes this season, was 9th on the board.

Brad Keselowski, in the Miller Lite Ford #2 car, with 13 minutes gone was in 7th with a speed of just over 186 mph - a speed that was 1 mph quicker than his time which helped him into 3rd in first practice - just shows that the track was a lot quicker today.

At the halfway stage Johnson, Harvick, Gordon, Earnhardt Jr, and Kenseth made up the top five.

With only ten minutes to go, 46 cars had been out on track with reigning Truck Series Champion Matt Crafton in the #29 in 46th with a speed of just over 174 mph.

Seven minutes were left on the clock and Kenseth was in 6th with a speed over 187 mph, a whole 1 mph quicker than his speed which helped him top the charts in first practice.

Keselowski took his #2 car into 2nd with six minutes remaining with a speed of 188.494 mph, but still 0.8 mph slower than Johnson in the #48 car.

At the end of the shortened practice session Johnson (189.29), Keselowski (188.49), Harvick (188.36), Gordon (187.85), and Earnhardt Jr (187.75) made up the top five. Qualifying for Sunday's race will get underway at 2:10 PM ET Saturday afternoon at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.