Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kurt Busch was fastest in the final 50-minute practice session for the STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
Busch, the defending winner of the race, ended the session with a fast time of 19.502 seconds.
Runner up in this race one year ago, Jimmie Johnson was second in practice with a 19.560-second lap time. He was followed by his teammate Jeff Gordon, Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman.
Drivers racing for single-car teams had strong showings in practice, with Martin Truex Jr., Casey Mears, AJ Allmendinger and Josh Wise all completing practice within the top 18.
NASCAR Xfinity Series defending champion Chase Elliott, making his Sprint Cup Series debut tomorrow, ended final practice 27th fastest with a time of 19.769 seconds.
Austin Dillon (24th) and Danica Patrick (13th) made contact in the final minute of the session with both cars receiving minor damage. Greg Biffle spun in turn 4 around halfway through practice and received minor damage to his car. None of these drivers will go to backup cars.
The STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway can be seen on Sunday, March 29 at 1 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1.
2015 STP 500 FINAL PRACTICE SPEEDS