Through Qualifying
Final Practice For First Data 500
Martinsville Speedway
Saturday, October 26 12:00 pm ET
50 minutes in length
Weather
Just over 60 degrees and sunny with light winds.
Penalized Drivers
No drivers were penalized in this session
Top-20 Speeds (Single Lap)
Best Lap Averages
Items of Note:
- Kurt Busch started the session with a mock qualifying run in Q trim.
- Austin Dillon is in Q trim to start as well
- A few guys are having issues with the car stepping out on them in the corners early in the session.
- Denny Hamlin says he’s pretty happy early in this practice with the car though it is locking up a bit in the front left in the corners.
- Alex Bowman said the car is better than it was in the first session but it’s still not where it needs to be.
- After two laps in Q-trim, Kurt Busch is switching to race trim.
- Ryan Preece did a mock qualifying run early on in the session as well
- Ryan Blaney will now have Brad Keselowski’s pit crew going forward since he’s in the playoffs and Keselowski isn’t.
- Keselowski did a mock qualifying run in the first 10 minutes of the session.
- In the first 15 minutes of the session, Clint Bowyer is first in five-lap, 10-lap, and 15-lap averages.
- Matt DiBenedetto said his car is having trouble getting off the corners and he nearly hit the curb as well.
- Matt Crafton, driving the 36 for Matt Tifft while he’s in the hospital, has gotten loose several times in the corners.
- Kurt Busch said his car is getting a bit wonky in the corners and he thinks it’s from the bump on entry as you transition from the asphalt to the concrete.
- Tire fall off is showing to have an effect in this session as William Byron drove passed Ryan Blaney. Byron had 11 laps on the tires and Blaney had 37 laps on them.
- Denny Hamlin says he’s tight through 1&2 but not as bad in 3&4 and he says he has some break issues with locking up the left front.
- Martin Truex Jr. just nearly dumped Ryan Blaney just past halfway through the session as Blaney has 50 laps on the tires and Truex has newer tires.
- Brad Keselowski says when he gets on the brake there is a pretty big clunking coming from the drive train somewhere in the 2-car.
- Chase Elliott is fourth in 10-lap average and in the top-10 in 15-lap average.
- Kyle Larson was asking what faster cars were doing in the corners as far as how they were driving them and was focusing on Denny Hamlin and Clint Bowyer.
- Kevin Harvick isn’t happy with his car this week and he said that sometimes he feels decently comfortable at this track and sometimes it’s like he’s never driven it before.
Opening Practice For First Data 500
Martinsville Speedway
Saturday, October 26 9:05 am ET
50 minutes in length
Weather
55 degrees and overcast with winds at 3 mph
Penalized Drivers
Kevin Harvick (30 minutes at the end of the session)
Martin Truex Jr. (15 minutes at end of the session)
Top-20 Speeds (Single Lap)
Best Lap Averages
Items of Note:
- The drivers that can conserve rear tires and brakes will do the best over the 500 laps of the race.
- Chase Elliott had a catastrophic engine failure after five laps on the track. There was fire shooting out from underneath and behind the car and he had to escape with some haste.
- The speedy dry that’s been laid down goes from the start/finish line to the middle of the backstretch and it’s all in the racing groove.
- Matt Tifft is not in the car all day today after going to the infield care center and then to the hospital and it’s unclear if he’ll be in the car for the race.
- They have added 10 minutes to practice due to the 13-minute red flag to clean the track.
- A lot of drivers are doing shorter runs here than are typical even for a Martinsville practice.
- Kyle Larson stated on the radio that he doesn’t feel comfortable on the track and his car is too free in the wrong spots.
- A lot of drivers are having balance issues this session as their car is swinging free to tight and vice versa.
- There are a few drivers that don’t like how the car is rolling the corner after this session.
- Chase Elliott’s team was installing the new engine in the backup car towards the end of practice to try and get ready for final practice.
- Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr had to serve penalties stemming from inspection issues at Kansas last week.