Practice Breakdown: Martinsville (Goody’s Fast Relief 500)
This week’s schedule at Martinsville Speedway is different than what we have had in recent weeks. Two practice sessions were held on Friday and qualifying will be Saturday afternoon. After the starting lineup is set, the drivers won’t see the track again until the green flag drops on Sunday. How telling will these practice speeds be? I’m not sure, as I have no idea what speeds each driver recorded while in race trim compared to qualifying setup, but below you will find each driver’s average speed in practice–take those for what they are worth.
Important Practice Notes: Jimmie Johnson spun in first practice but didn’t hit anything. David Reutimann ran into the back of Mike Skinner but I couldn’t see any damage to either car. In Happy Hour, both Joey Logano and Dennis Setzer totaled their cars. Logano will go to a backup, but because Setzer does not have a backup car, he will not even try to qualify.
First practice shook out like this:
1. Kyle Busch – 95.617 mph
2. Joey Logano – 95.612 mph
3. Kevin Harvick – 95.314 mph
4. Brad Keselowski – 95.266 mph
5. Jamie McMurray – 95.228 mph
Complete practice 1 speeds can be found by clicking here.
In terms of ten-lap average, the following were fastest in first practice:
1. Juan Montoya – 93.956 mph
2. Mark Martin – 93.909 mph
3. Bobby Labonte – 93.799 mph
4. Jimmie Johnson – 93.708 mph
5. Tony Stewart – 93.344 mph
The top five drivers in the second practice session were:
1. David Ragan – 96.268 mph
2. Jeff Gordon – 96.220 mph
3. Brad Keselowski – 96.166 mph
4. David Reutimann – 95.864 mph
5. Kasey Kahne – 95.811 mph
Complete rankings of this practice can be found by clicking here.
The top five drivers in ten-lap average during this session were:
1. Jamie McMurray – 94.675 mph
2. Paul Menard – 94.355 mph
3. Mark Martin – 94.354 mph
4. Kyle Busch – 94.129 mph
5. Kevin Harvick – 94.100 mph
AVERAGE PRACTICE SPEEDS:
Average practice speeds are calculated by taking the average speed of each driver in each practice and multiplying it by the number of laps ran. When you do this for each practice and add the totals together, and then divide by the total number of laps ran, you get an average of their practice speed, instead of just the one lap statistic you see when you look at practice sheets. The order that they are in is the overall average speeds rank of the two sessions combined.
1. Kevin Harvick at 93.035 mph over 99 laps
2. Jamie McMurray at 92.974 mph over 120 laps
3. Clint Bowyer at 92.786 mph over 103 laps
4. Marcos Ambrose at 92.726 mph over 110 laps
5. A.J. Allmendinger at 92.687 mph over 119 laps
6. Joey Logano at 92.610 mph over 122 laps
7. Kyle Busch at 92.604 mph over 124 laps
8. Kasey Kahne at 92.557 mph over 96 laps
9. Mark Martin at 92.524 mph over 131 laps
10. Juan Montoya at 92.509 mph over 128 laps
11. Casey Mears at 92.477 mph over 94 laps
12. Denny Hamlin at 92.455 mph over 111 laps
13. Dave Blaney at 92.376 mph over 67 laps
14. David Ragan at 92.309 mph over 125 laps
15. Carl Edwards at 92.242 mph over 87 laps
16. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. at 92.157 mph over 106 laps
17. Jeff Burton at 92.156 mph over 122 laps
18. Matt Kenseth at 92.137 mph over 94 laps
19. Regan Smith at 92.069 mph over 123 laps
20. Brad Keselowski at 92.068 mph over 131 laps
21. Bobby Labonte at 92.065 mph over 133 laps
22. David Reutimann at 92.053 mph over 105 laps
23. Tony Stewart at 92.025 mph over 154 laps
24. Martin Truex, Jr. at 91.977 mph over 125 laps
25. Jeff Gordon at 91.977 mph over 105 laps
26. Greg Biffle at 91.894 mph over 95 laps
27. Jimmie Johnson at 91.876 mph over 164 laps
28. Kurt Busch at 91.862 mph over 117 laps
29. Ryan Newman at 91.808 mph over 110 laps
30. Michael McDowell at 91.803 mph over 48 laps
31. Paul Menard at 91.717 mph over 116 laps
32. Brian Vickers at 91.691 mph over 122 laps
33. Joe Nemechek at 91.649 mph over 41 laps
34. Mike Skinner at 91.438 mph over 39 laps
35. Robby Gordon at 91.430 mph over 83 laps
36. Travis Kvapil at 91.364 mph over 66 laps
37. Dennis Setzer at 91.320 mph over 42 laps
38. J.J. Yeley at 91.291 mph over 38 laps
39. Trevor Bayne at 91.090 mph over 117 laps
40. David Gilliland at 90.987 mph over 62 laps
41. Landon Cassill at 90.956 mph over 77 laps
42. Tony Raines at 90.715 mph over 56 laps
43. Ken Schrader at 90.034 mph over 88 laps
44. Hermie Sadler at 88.971 mph over 84 laps
