Brian Vickers topped opening practice for the Sprint Cup Series at Martinsville Speedway. Filling in for an injured Tony Stewart, Vickers ran a quick time of 19.485 seconds [97.182 mph] to edge ahead of Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano by a mere 0.019 seconds.
Ryan Newman and Kyle Larson – one week removed from a head-on crash at Fontana – rounded out the top-5 competitors.
In the closing minutes, trouble found Trevor Bayne as he backed his No. 6 Ford into the outside wall. Bayne’s Roush Fenway Racing crew will head to a backup machine in time for qualifying.
“I tried to push the braking zone a little bit more and it started wheel-hopping really bad,” Bayne said. “There was nothing I could do about it.”
Kasey Kahne, Ryan Blaney, Matt Kenseth, Paul Menard and Jamie McMurray completed the top 10.
With the exception of Vickers, Stewart-Haas Racing struggled to find speed on this paperclip oval, NASCAR’s smallest on the circuit. Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch and Danica Patrick finished 17th, 18th and 29th, respectably.
The 80-minute session saw all 40 cars take to the half-mile track.
