With the clock draining on the session, Joey Logano turned in a lap at 20.054 seconds (94.416 mph) to place him at the top of the leaderboard in the final practice for the First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday evening (Oct. 28). Chase Elliott (20.075 seconds, 94.326 mph) had held the top spot until Logano’s final run and finished the practice in second place.
Points leader Martin Truex Jr. took third place in the session. Clint Bowyer and Kasey Kahne rounded out the top five.
Brad Keselowski, who won the spring race at Martinsville, was seventh quickest. Defending fall Martinsville winner Jimmie Johnson was 13th fastest.
Five-time Martinsville winner Denny Hamlin was the quickest in the opening practice Saturday, but sank to 16th place in the final session. Kevin Harvick was the slowest of the playoff drivers, coming in at 25th place.
Kyle Busch, who was eighth quickest, had the best 10-lap average in the session. Busch’s average time of 20.320 seconds (93.186 mph) was a couple of hundredths of a second faster than Truex. Johnson had the third-best average, followed by Keselowski and Bowyer.
Results of Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series First Data 500 Happy Hour
The practice had one incident. Erik Jones (92.714 mph) spun out about 20 minutes in and slammed into the wall. Jones was 26th in the practice and the team will go to a back up car.
Qualifying for the First Data 500 at Martinsville is scheduled for Sunday (Oct. 29) at noon/e.t., with the race set for later in the day at 3 p.m./e.t. NBC Sports Network and the Motor Racing Network will broadcast the event.
About the author
Michael Massie joined Frontstretch in 2017 and has served as the Content Director since 2020. Massie, a Richmond, Va., native, has covered NASCAR, IndyCar, SRX and the CARS Tour. Outside of motorsports, the Virginia Tech grad and Green Bay Packers minority owner can be seen cheering on his beloved Hokies and Packers.
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