54-year old Mark Martin once again continued to display his dominance of the weekend as he was the fastest in the second practice session of the weekend. He bested Kyle Busch who ran his fastest lap at 135.201 mph. Martin’s lap was just over 135.450 mph.
The drivers were focusing more on their race setups as speeds were about 2-3 mph slower than what they qualified yesterday afternoon.
The story of this morning and this weekend has been the Toyota fleet. Clint Bowyer was third quickest as he returns to the same site where he and Jeff Gordon tangled last November. Gordon on the other hand was 13th quickest after qualifying his No.24 Pepsi Max Chevrolet in the 5th position.
Kevin Harvick was the most recent Phoenix winner and the most recent non-COT winner. He swept both races here in 2006 en route to falling short of winning the 2006 championship behind Matt Kenseth , and champion Jimmie Johnson. He is my pick to win this race and he was 5th quickest in this session, while Johnson was fourth fastest.
Marcos Ambrose, Carl Edwards, Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman, and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top-10. Defending series champion Brad Keselowski was 14th quickest in his Miller Lite Ford.
For all the Danica Patrick fans, she was 35th quickest as she continues to struggle with the balance of her race car.
Practice Speeds – Practice 2
Race 2 of 36
SUBWAY Fresh Fit 500, Phoenix Int’l Raceway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/practice.php?race=2&PS=2
