At a track it typically does well at, Hendrick Motorsports shined in final practice leading up to Sunday’s Apache Warrior 400 at Dover International Speedway.
Chase Elliott turned the quickest lap in the session at 157.363 mph, .067 seconds ahead of Hendrick Motorsports teammate, and 11-time Dover winner Jimmie Johnson (156.904 mph). The duo led a string of nine consecutive playoff drivers taking the top nine times in the 55-minute session.
Elliott has three career starts at the Monster Mile, all resulting in top-five finishes.
After pacing the morning practice, Kevin Harvick was third quick (156.897 mph) in the afternoon’s final session. Kyle Larson was fourth on the speed chart (156.658 mph) and Kyle Busch rounded out the top five (156.631 mph).
Jamie McMurray, Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne, Ryan Blaney and Daniel Suarez made up the rest of the top 10 speeds.
Out of the three drivers that enter Sunday within one point of the coveted 12th, and final transfer position, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. led the way in 12th. Ryan Newman was mired back in 22nd, while his Richard Childress Racing teammate Austin Dillon was stuck down in 30th. The No. 3 car was the slowest of the 16 playoff drivers in both practice sessions on Saturday.
Kyle Busch was the only driver to run more than 70 laps in the session. The No. 18 team completed 80 circuits. He also led the way in terms of 10 lap average at 155.518 mph.
The green flag is set to fly shortly after 2 p.m. ET on Sunday. Martin Truex Jr. starts from the pole and is the defending winner of the event.
About the author
Dustin joined the Frontstretch team at the beginning of the 2016 season. 2020 marks his sixth full-time season covering the sport that he grew up loving. His dream was to one day be a NASCAR journalist, thus why he attended Ithaca College (Class of 2018) to earn a journalism degree. Since the ripe age of four, he knew he wanted to be a storyteller.
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