The first on-track session of O'Reilly championship weekend is in the books, and the points leader did not have a good day.

Anthony Alfredo topped Friday practice at Homestead-Miami Speedway, turning a lap of 33.384 seconds at 161.754 mph in the final practice session of the O'Reilly season. Jeremy Clements was second at 33.462, Sam Mayer was third at 33.470, Taylor Gray was fourth, and Sheldon Creed was fifth.

That is a good look for Creed, and a worrying one for the man he is chasing. Justin Allgaier, who leads the championship by 22 points, was 20th fastest at 34.279. He was the slowest of the five championship drivers in the session, and by a clear margin.

That being said, Allgaier does not need to be fast on Friday to win this championship, just like Kyle Larson does not need to be fast on Friday to win the Cup title. Allgaier leads Jesse Love by 22, Corey Day by 23, Carson Kvapil by 31, and Creed by 42, and he averages 10.0 stage points at Homestead, against 4.0 for Love. Practice speed is a nice thing to have. It is not a requirement for Allgaier on Saturday, and he knows it.

Still, 20th is 20th, and the rest of the championship field did not have the same problem. Creed was fifth, and he was the quickest title contender in the session. Day was seventh at 33.743. Love was 11th at 33.997. Kvapil was 17th at 34.233. Allgaier was the only one of the five outside the top 15, and he was the only one outside the top 10 on the long run too, sitting 10th on the 10-lap average chart at 153.917 mph.

The long run tells a different story than the single-lap chart, and it is a better one for the challengers. Mayer topped the 10-lap average at 155.642 mph, and Love was second at 155.347 mph. Mayer was the fastest Chase driver in the session, and he was the fastest on the long run too. Love, who needs a near-perfect day on Saturday to steal this title, was second on the long run. Allgaier was 10th. That is the gap Love has to close, and it is the gap Allgaier has to protect.

There was trouble in practice, too, and it hit two of the championship drivers. Love slowed with a flat tire, a left-rear tire going into Turn 1 with about 12 minutes left in the session, and he stalled on the backstretch to bring out a brief stoppage. He avoided the wall, and he got going again, but that is not how a driver who needs a perfect day wants to start his weekend.

Day had the worse moment. He brushed the wall late in the session, testing the high line, and he picked up moderate body damage. Day is 23 points back, he is the hottest driver in the Chase, with top 10s in seven of eight Chase races and back-to-back wins at Las Vegas and Charlotte, and he needs a win on Saturday to have a real shot at this title. A damaged car on Friday is not the way to start that.

Alfredo in first is the first name. He is driving for the little two-car Viking Motorsports team, and he led the way in the final practice of the season. Clements in second is the second name. He has been around this series for a long time, and he was just 0.078 seconds off Alfredo. Mayer in third is not a surprise, but he was the fastest Chase driver, and he was the fastest on the long run, so he is a threat for the win on Saturday even though he is not racing for the title.

Start with Allgaier in 20th, and keep going. Kvapil was 17th on a single lap, and he cannot clinch this title on his own anyway, he needs help. Sammy Smith was 13th, William Sawalich was 14th, and Brandon Jones was 15th. None of them are racing for a championship, but none of them looked quick on Friday either.

So after one practice, here is where things stand. Alfredo is fast, Mayer is fast on the long run, Love is fast on the long run, and Creed is the fastest championship driver. Allgaier is 20th, Love had a flat tire, and Day brushed the wall. Allgaier still leads by 22, and he still only needs a solid day to win this title. But if Mayer and Love keep this pace into qualifying and the race, and if Day's car is right after that wall contact, Allgaier is going to have to keep those 22 points the hard way on Saturday.

Thanks for reading, and let me know in the comments whether you think Allgaier's practice speed means anything, or whether 22 points is 22 points.