Kevin Harvick leads Talladega practice with 204mph lap

While drafting midway through the session, Harvick posted an average lap speed of 204.227 mph to lead the all drivers.

Qualifying will take place Saturday afternoon following the Camping World Truck Series race.

Harvick’s Stewart-Haas Racing teammate, Aric Almirola was second-fastest (203.957 mph) and Joey Logano was third (202.478 mph). Clint Bowyer was fourth and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. completed the top-five.

Rounding out the Top 10 were Ty Dillon, Austin Dillon, Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski and Erik Jones.

Logano won the spring Talladega event.

About 20 minutes into the session, a caution was displayed for a piece of debris on the track. NASCAR officials asked that it be collected and taken back to the Cup series hauler for inspection. It appeared to come off the No. 17 Ford of Stenhouse.

About 30 minutes into the session, the No. 00 of Joey Gase came to a stop on the track in the bottom of Turns 3 and 4. He appeared to have a left-rear flat. Practice resumed soon afterwards.

Darrell Wallace Jr. had to sit out the final 30 minutes of Saturday’s practice for failing pre-race inspection last weekend at Dover three times.

Eight drivers had to sit out the final 15 minutes of practice Saturday – Keselowski, D.J. Kennington and Landon Cassill for their respective spotters missing the mandatory spotters meeting; Kyle Busch, Daniel Suarez and David Ragan for being late to pre-race inspection last week; and Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr. for failing pre-race inspection twice last weekend at Dover.

Cla	#	Driver	4506	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Mph
1	4	Kevin Harvick	Ford	23	46.889			204.227
2	10	Aric Almirola	Ford	30	46.951	0.062	0.062	203.957
3	22	Joey Logano	Ford	23	47.294	0.405	0.343	202.478
4	14	Clint Bowyer	Ford	26	47.305	0.416	0.011	202.431
5	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	23	47.315	0.426	0.010	202.388
6	13	Ty Dillon	Chevrolet	23	47.323	0.434	0.008	202.354
7	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	33	47.359	0.470	0.036	202.200
8	41	Kurt Busch	Ford	21	47.360	0.471	0.001	202.196
9	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	21	47.361	0.472	0.001	202.192
10	20	Erik Jones	Toyota	22	47.387	0.498	0.026	202.081
11	21	Paul Menard	Ford	24	47.394	0.505	0.007	202.051
12	19	Daniel Suarez	Toyota	20	47.411	0.522	0.017	201.978
13	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	22	47.415	0.526	0.004	201.961
14	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	8	47.418	0.529	0.003	201.949
15	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	22	47.419	0.530	0.001	201.944
16	6	Trevor Bayne	Ford	23	47.446	0.557	0.027	201.829
17	12	Ryan Blaney	Ford	28	47.458	0.569	0.012	201.778
18	47	A.J. Allmendinger	Chevrolet	26	47.535	0.646	0.077	201.452
19	62	Brendan Gaughan	Chevrolet	13	47.633	0.744	0.098	201.037
20	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	34	47.728	0.839	0.095	200.637
21	32	Matt DiBenedetto	Ford	22	47.743	0.854	0.015	200.574
22	24	William Byron	Chevrolet	32	47.747	0.858	0.004	200.557
23	9	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	48	47.789	0.900	0.042	200.381
24	88	Alex Bowman	Chevrolet	32	47.809	0.920	0.020	200.297
25	37	Chris Buescher	Chevrolet	25	47.894	1.005	0.085	199.942
26	95	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	18	48.621	1.732	0.727	196.952
27	34	Michael McDowell	Ford	32	48.691	1.802	0.070	196.669
28	00	Joey Gase	Chevrolet	12	49.506	2.617	0.815	193.431
29	42	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	25	49.564	2.675	0.058	193.205
30	38	David Ragan	Ford	14	49.582	2.693	0.018	193.135
31	31	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	23	49.990	3.101	0.408	191.558
32	72	Corey Lajoie	Chevrolet	17	50.089	3.200	0.099	191.180
33	43	Darrell Wallace Jr.	Chevrolet	6	50.271	3.382	0.182	190.488
34	7	D.J. Kennington	Chevrolet	8	50.380	3.491	0.109	190.075
35	23	J.J. Yeley	Ford	7	50.391	3.502	0.011	190.034
36	15	Ross Chastain	Chevrolet	6	50.425	3.536	0.034	189.906
37	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	22	50.739	3.850	0.314	188.731
38	96	Jeffrey Earnhardt	Toyota	11	50.902	4.013	0.163	188.126
39	51	Cody Ware	Ford	15	51.159	4.270	0.257	187.181
40	99	Landon Cassill	Chevrolet	8	51.232	4.343	0.073	186.914
41	97	David Starr	Toyota	8	51.454	4.565	0.222	186.108

Take a virtual lap around Talladega Superspeedway with the No. 2 Team Penske Ford of Brad Keselowski, courtesy of NASCAR Heat 3.