The Outlaw Kurt Busch is back with a vengeance after his ban from the Sprint Cup Series as he will start 8th tomorrow and topped today's first of two practice session.
Busch #41 had a lap time of 26.322 seconds followed by Brad Keselowski #2 with a 26.397 second lap.
Pole sitter Kevin Harvick #4 was third on the board with a 26.432, Jamie McMurray #1 was 4th 26.457 and Kasey Kahne #5 rounded out the top five with a 26.456 second lap time.
Brendan Gaughan #62 who was 43rd on the board at the end of the session had a lap time of 27.666 seconds, showing that the field was separated by just over one second.
The short 55 minute session started with a number of drivers going out onto track to get a feel for their cars with Kahne #5 setting the first lap time of 26.806 seconds.
As more drivers passed the stripe Earnhardt Jr. #88 went top with a 26.524 second lap, but then Kurt Busch #41 who is hoping to return with a bang after his ban went quickest with a 26.322 seconds.
Busch will start 8th tomorrow at PIR and has been quick all weekend so far, including the first five minutes in the second practice session.
After five minutes Kurt Busch 26.322, McMurray 26.45, Kahne 26.456, Larson 26.490 and Truex Jr 26.493 were the top five as 28 drivers had already been on track.
Keselowski #2 jumped into the top five after his first run on track with a lap time of 26.447 seconds as Team Penske teammate Logano #22 was 6th.
With ten minutes gone Ku Busch #41, Keselowski #2, McMurray #1, Kahne #5 and pole sitter Harvick #4 were the top five as 41 cars had posted a time already.
Hamlin #11, who is starting 25th tomorrow, told FoxSports 1: "It is not a track where you change a whole lot. But people will start to move down below that yellow line and that's where we want to be in the race as well."
Harvick jumped to 2nd after 20 minutes, to make it a Stewart Haas Racing 1-2 on the board, with a lap time of 26.422 seconds.
With half an you to go Kurt Busch #41, Harvick #4, Keselowski #2, McMurray #1 and Kahne #5 made up the top five.
All 43 drivers had posted a time with Ku Busch in 1st having a 26.322 second lap and Gaughan #62 in 43rd having a 27.894 second lap time.
Keselowski #2 was back into the top two on the timing charts with 29 minutes left after running a 26.392 second lap time.
There was no change in the top five on the chart with twenty minutes to go in the second practice session as Gaughan #62 in 43rd had improved his lap time to 27.893 seconds.
As the session came into the last ten minutes there was still no changes in the top five, but two big names were struggling as Johnson #48 and Stewart #14 were 24th and 26th respectively.