A familiar face was at the front of the field on Saturday (March 10), and he managed to pace both practice sessions in advance of Sunday’s TicketGuardian 500 at ISM Raceway.
Kevin Harvick has been in the headlines all weekend, and on Saturday he made sure he was still there by turning super-fast laps in both sessions.
Harvick and Chase Elliott both turned the same time and speed during the first session of the afternoon. The 26.705-second (134.806 mph) lap put both Harvick and Elliott on the top of the speed charts in first and second. Kyle Busch finished the session second, followed by Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin.
Defending race winner Ryan Newman finished the session in sixth, followed by pole-sitter Martin Truex Jr. and Jimmie Johnson. Joey Logano and Kyle Larson rounded out the top 10.
36 of the 37 drivers turned at least one lap during the session. Jeffrey Earnhardt was the sole driver who didn’t turn a lap in the session. William Byron turned the most laps with 48, while Corey LaJoie turned the least at 17.
Harvick stood alone during final practice, turning a 26.757-second lap early in the session, and the time stayed up top the whole session. On top of turning the fastest single lap during the session, Harvick turned the fastest 10-, 15- and 20-lap averages during the session.
Jamie McMurray finished the session second, followed by Martin Truex Jr., Aric Almirola and Alex Bowman.
Like second practice, 36 of the 37 drivers turned a lap during the session. Earnhardt didn’t turn a lap in final practice either.
About the author
His favorite tracks on the circuit include Barber Motorsports Park, Iowa Speedway, Martinsville Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville, and Bristol Motor Speedway.
During the season, Christian also spends time as a photographer with multiple other outlets shooting Monster Energy AMA Supercross, Minor League & Major League Baseball, and NCAA Football.
A daily email update (Monday through Friday) providing racing news, commentary, features, and information from Frontstretch.com
We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else.