IRWINDALE, Calif. -- Jason Bowles, who last year swept two visits to his home track of Toyota Speedway at Irwindale (Calif.), topped the speed charts following two practice sessions at the half-mile track on Saturday.
Bowles turned in a lap of 94.762 mph in the No. 6 Sunrise Ford.com Ford in the second and final practice session, besting a lap of 93.405 mph turned in by Eric Holmes in the first practice session.
Holmes leads Bowles by 16 points in the championship standings heading into the King Taco 200, which is slated to get underway at 8:15 p.m. on Saturday.
John Manke served as a substitute driver for Johnny Borneman in the No. 8 Twisted X Boots/Red Line Oil Chevrolet during both practice sessions. Borneman, who finished 25th in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway on Friday night, was traveling back to California and is expected to arrive in time to qualify the car.