Jeff Gordon showed his championship form on Friday.
Gordon took practice laps in a racecar for the first time since last November — and posted the ninth-fastest time in the opening session at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
MORE: 10 to watch at Indy | Gordon can win | Gordon's path back
Gordon is driving the Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 in relief of Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has concussion-like symptoms. He first sat in the car on Tuesday and has been working to learn the nuances of the 2016 lower-downforce car and changes that have come since he retired from full-time racing after the 2015 Cup championship race.
First practice ✔️#Brickyard400 📈: https://t.co/xs9i8SnCHZ pic.twitter.com/Ov0bCANcjM
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 22, 2016
Gordon didn't appear to have missed a step. He turned in a top speed of 179.376 mph in the session. Jimmie Johnson was fastest, at 184.185 mph. Tony Stewart, also making his final start at the track, was eighth fastest with a speed of 179.655 mph.
MORE: Gordon at Indy | Cup winners at Indy
Denny Hamlin, Casey Mears, Kevin Harvick and Ryan Newman followed Johnson in the top five.
Kyle Busch spun in the session after coming up quickly on Patrick Carpentier, who did not leave an opening in the lower line for him. Carpentier was shown on the NBCSN broadcast going into Busch's garage stall and talking to him after the incident.
.@KyleBusch spins around in opening #Brickyard400 practice. pic.twitter.com/Z3PD7dzkif
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 22, 2016
"Kyle was a little bit further back down the straightaway and I was like, 'Do I lift to let him by?' He was still quite far away, but he closed in pretty quickly," Carpentier said. "I didn't think he was going to go in there, but it was my bad. I should have let him go in between both corners, but that's why I went and apologized to him."
Carpentier said that Busch was "not very talkative, but that's to be expected." Still, he regretted that the incident happened.
"A couple of laps before I let Ryan Newman by in between [Turns] 1 and 2, and that went pretty well," Carpentied said, "and I should have done that with Kyle. Like I told him, 'The next time, I'll do it.' "
Carpentier is at Indianapolis after driving one Cup race this season, finishing 37th at Sonoma.
Busch went on to lead the second practice session with a lap of 184.619 mph. Jeff Gordon was 25th and Tony Stewart was 24th in that final session before qualifying.