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Keselowski tops final Cup practice at Martinsville

Brad Keselowski, who won the spring race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway this season, ended up fastest in Saturday’s final practice.

 Brad Keselowski, Team Penske, Ford Mustang Alliance Truck Parts

Brad Keselowski, Team Penske, Ford Mustang Alliance Truck Parts

Matthew T. Thacker / NKP / Motorsport Images

Keselowski ended up eliminated from the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs last weekend at Kansas but his average lap speed of 96.283 mph has him poised at the chance to sweep both races at the 1-mile track this season.

Penske teammate Ryan Blaney ended up second (95.762 mph) and Kurt Busch was third (95.704 mph). Daniel Hemric was fourth and Ryan Preece completed the top-five.

Rounding out the top-10 in single-lap speeds were Chase Elliott, who blew an engine in Saturday’s first practice, William Byron, Erik Jones, Clint Bowyer and Michael McDowell.

Elliott’s laps were his first in his No. 9 Chevrolet since his team replaced the engine after just five laps in the first practice.

Truck Series driver Matt Crafton continued to practice in Front Row Motorsports’ No. 36 Ford in place of Matt Tifft, who was transported to a local hospital earlier in the day with a “serious medical issue.”

Crafton is expected to remain in the car for Saturday’s qualifying and perhaps the remainder of the weekend.

Bowyer had the fastest average lap speed (94.488 mph) among those drivers who completed at least 10 consecutive laps. Aric Almirola and Jones were second and third, respectively, in that category.

Read Also:

Cla # Driver Manufacturer Laps Time Gap Interval Mph
1 2 United States Brad Keselowski  Ford 67 19.667     96.283
2 12 United States Ryan Blaney  Ford 88 19.774 00.107 00.107 95.762
3 1 United States Kurt Busch  Chevrolet 76 19.786 00.119 00.012 95.704
4 8 United States Daniel Hemric  Chevrolet 57 19.809 00.142 00.023 95.593
5 47 United States Ryan Preece  Chevrolet 72 19.833 00.166 00.024 95.477
6 9 United States Chase Elliott  Chevrolet 58 19.835 00.168 00.002 95.468
7 24 United States William Byron  Chevrolet 66 19.925 00.258 00.090 95.036
8 20 United States Erik Jones  Toyota 61 19.966 00.299 00.041 94.841
9 14 United States Clint Bowyer  Ford 71 19.968 00.301 00.002 94.832
10 34 United States Michael McDowell  Ford 50 19.996 00.329 00.028 94.699
11 13 United States Ty Dillon  Chevrolet 39 20.005 00.338 00.009 94.656
12 10 United States Aric Almirola  Ford 88 20.014 00.347 00.009 94.614
13 88 United States Alex Bowman  Chevrolet 45 20.024 00.357 00.010 94.567
14 32 United States Corey Lajoie  Ford 31 20.034 00.367 00.010 94.519
15 18 United States Kyle Busch  Toyota 73 20.036 00.369 00.002 94.510
16 11 United States Denny Hamlin  Toyota 57 20.040 00.373 00.004 94.491
17 4 United States Kevin Harvick  Ford 66 20.042 00.375 00.002 94.482
18 22 United States Joey Logano  Ford 83 20.046 00.379 00.004 94.463
19 41 Mexico Daniel Suarez  Ford 84 20.048 00.381 00.002 94.453
20 19 United States Martin Truex Jr.  Toyota 72 20.057 00.390 00.009 94.411
21 42 United States Kyle Larson  Chevrolet 95 20.063 00.396 00.006 94.383
22 48 United States Jimmie Johnson  Chevrolet 69 20.127 00.460 00.064 94.083
23 17 United States Ricky Stenhouse Jr.  Ford 50 20.156 00.489 00.029 93.947
24 43 United States Darrell Wallace Jr.  Chevrolet 64 20.165 00.498 00.009 93.905
25 95 United States Matt DiBenedetto  Toyota 70 20.166 00.499 00.001 93.901
26 37 United States Chris Buescher  Chevrolet 75 20.176 00.509 00.010 93.854
27 6 United States Ryan Newman  Ford 47 20.190 00.523 00.014 93.789
28 21 United States Paul Menard  Ford 41 20.241 00.574 00.051 93.553
29 38 United States David Ragan  Ford 52 20.246 00.579 00.005 93.530
30 3 United States Austin Dillon  Chevrolet 46 20.247 00.580 00.001 93.525
31 36 United States Matt Crafton  Ford 48 20.494 00.827 00.247 92.398
32 00 United States Landon Cassill  Chevrolet 52 20.832 01.165 00.338 90.899
33 51 United States B.J. McLeod  Chevrolet 10 21.043 01.376 00.211 89.987
34 53 United States J.J. Yeley  Chevrolet 40 21.088 01.421 00.045 89.795
35 52 United States Garrett Smithley  Chevrolet 31 21.340 01.673 00.252 88.735

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