Dale Jr. leads final practice for Pennsylvania 400

Dale Earnhardt Jr., Sprint Cup points leader, signs autographs for fans before the
start of practice for the Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono Raceway on Friday.
Credit: Jeff Zelevansky / Getty Images

Dale Earnhardt Jr. ended his Friday at Pocono Raceway at the top of the leaderboard during final practice for Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pennsylvania 400.

Earnhardt Jr. posted the quickest lap of the hour-and-a-half session at 177.441 mph (50.721 seconds) - still slower than Joey Logano's record lap.

Rounding out the top 10 in final practice are Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Jamie McMurray, Martin Truex Jr., Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson.

Just four cars ran 10 consecutive laps, with five-time champion Jimmie Johnson posting the best 10 consecutive lap average with an average speed of 172.826 mph from Lap 7 through 16. Mark Martin, Ryan Newman and David Ragan also ran 10 consecutive laps.

Kyle Busch led much of the final practice, but it was Dale Jr. who ultimately came out on top.

Prior to practice, Dale Jr. expressed optimism in regard to practice and the entire race weekend to members of the media.

"Yeah, we're looking forward to today and getting back on the track and practicing and seeing where our speed is at compared [to] last time we were here," Earnhardt Jr. said. "We were a pretty good car and I felt like we had a real fast car in the race a couple of months ago. I'm just ready to go try it out and see what we've got. It should be a good weekend."

June race winner Logano was 29th in final practice. Brad Keselowski, winner of this race last year, was 16th.