Larson tops final Cup practice at Martinsville

After his Ganassi Racing teammate Jamie McMurray led second practice, Larson posted the top single lap speed of 96.088mph in Happy Hour forSunday’s Goody’s 500. He also earned the fastest Best 10 Consecutive Lap Average run of 95.462mph. 

Tony Stewart, who is expected to make his final run on Sunday, was second quick with a lap of 96.019mph with Paul Menard (95.845mph), David Ragan (95.781mph), Kyle Busch (95.738mph) and Brad Keselowski (95.738mph) comprising the top six on the speed chart. 

"Our car is really good,” Ragan said. “I knew yesterday our car had some speed but I knew today would present some challenges that we haven't seen here in a few years. I think our car is comfortable, it has speed in it, it's not perfect by any means. I feel like I can roll the center very nice. 

"There's a lot of good cars we'll have to race tomorrow, but I think we have a Top 15 car now. Obviously, it shows very good on the speed chart, but there are eight to 10 cars that can sustain the speed a little better than we do.

"You never know what everybody has on Friday because a lot of cars don't spend a lot of time in race trim. You just don't know who's going to be fast on Saturday. I was encouraged we were still able to go out and hold our own in the Top 10 on the speed chart."

Polesitter Martin Truex Jr. (95.651mph), Joey Logano (95.622mph), McMurray (95.622mph), Kevin Harvick (95.603mph), Ryan Newman (95.593mph) and Kurt Busch (95.501mph) rounded out the top 12. 

Denny Hamlin (16th) completed 99 laps, the most in the 50-minute session. Other notable Chasers included Matt Kenseth (15th), Jimmie Johnson (20th) and Carl Edwards (27th).

The focus for most competitors in final practice was the long run set up for the cars. Although Larson established the fastest pace in Best 10 Consecutive Lap Averages, Chaser Kyle Buschwas second with an average speed of 95.356mph, followed by Stewart (95.279mph), Logano (95.278mph), Truex (95.219mph) and Jeff Gordon (95.113mph). 

Kurt Busch was seventh in the category with an average run of 95.108mph followed by Newman (95.103mph), Chase Elliott (95.098mph) Ragan (95.010mph), McMurray (95.001mph) and Kenseth and Harvick each with a speed of 94.950mph.

Other Chasers included Edwards (17th), Hamlin (18th) and Johnson (19th).

Cla	#	Driver	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Mph
1	42	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	61	19.707			96.088
2	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	73	19.721	0.014	0.014	96.019
3	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	63	19.757	0.050	0.036	95.845
4	23	David Ragan	Toyota	41	19.770	0.063	0.013	95.781
5	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	89	19.777	0.070	0.007	95.748
6	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	61	19.779	0.072	0.002	95.738
7	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	70	19.797	0.090	0.018	95.651
8	22	Joey Logano	Ford	82	19.803	0.096	0.006	95.622
9	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	80	19.803	0.096	0.000	95.622
10	4	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	63	19.807	0.100	0.004	95.603

CLICK HERE for complete session results