Here’s a recap of the on-track activity Friday at Martinsville Speedway.
Practice
Joey Logano was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 19.161 and a speed of 98.826 mph. Jeff Gordon was second with a time of 19.251 and a speed of 98.364 mph followed by Brad Keselowski who was third with a time of 19.256 and a speed of 98.338 mph. Kevin Harvick was fourth with a time of 19.258 and a speed of 98.328 mph. Casey Mears rounded out the top-five with a time of 19.284 and a speed of 98.195 mph.
Kasey Kahne finished sixth. Jamie McMurray finished seventh. Kyle Busch finished eighth. Clint Bowyer finished ninth and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top-10.
Denny Hamlin finished 12th.
Carl Edwards was the lowest-finishing Chase driver in 17th.
Qualifying
Logano won the pole for the race with a time of 19.215 and a speed of 98.548 mph.
He said that he’s amazed at the “run we’re on right now. I’m just the lucky guy that gets to drive this thing right now. It’s so much fun and we’re doing everything right. But all that can in a blink of an eye, so we all just have to keep our focus. I don’t believe in luck. I believe in hard work, and that’s what this team is doing right now.”
Martin Truex Jr. will join him on the front row with a time of 19.227 and a speed of 98.487 mph.
He said that his team “didn’t know going into qualifying we’d have that good of speed. Definitely a good start to the weekend for us.”
A. J. Allmendinger will start third with a time of 19.309 and a speed of 98.068 mph. Jamie McMurray will start fourth with a time of 19.321 and a speed of 98.007 mph. Jeff Gordon rounded out the top-five with a time of 19.343 and a speed of 97.896 mph.
Kyle Busch will start sixth. Ryan Newman will start seventh. Aric Almirola will start eighth. Kyle Larson will start ninth. Denny Hamlin rounds out the top-10.
Brad Keselowski will start 11th, Kevin Harvick will start 12th and Carl Edwards will be the lowest starting Chase driver in 14th.
Edwards said afterward that he “just wasn’t fast enough the very first run so I put a run on the tires and got us a cycle behind everyone. It’s okay, we’re going to be just fine. I think in my history of qualifying here, this is still about 10 spots better than normal. We have a fast pit crew, the car is a lot better than it was in practice and I think for all these XFINITY guys, I think they’re all excited about the race. It’s one of our strong points at JGR and I’m going to have some fun on Sunday.”
Kasey Kahne went to his backup car after wrecking out in the first round of qualifying. Because he attempted a qualifying run, he’ll start from the rear of the field.
