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Brad Keselowski tops two playoffs drivers in Saturday's first practice

Brad Keselowski topped two current Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoff contenders to lead Saturday’s first practice at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

Jim Utter

Edited: Oct 27, 2018, 5:37 PM

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Brad Keselowski, Team Penske, Ford Fusion Discount Tire

Brad Keselowski, Team Penske, Ford Fusion Discount Tire and Paul Wolfe

Brad Keselowski, Team Penske, Ford Fusion Discount Tire

Keselowski, who was eliminated from further playoff contention following last weekend’s race at Kansas, topped the first practice session with an average lap speed of 95.714 mph.

Keselowski has one series win at Martinsville, coming in 2017. He has finished 10th or higher at the track in six of his last seven races at the short track.

Kurt Busch was second (95.646 mph) and Kyle Busch was third (95.593 mph). Ryan Blaney and Aric Almirola completed the top-five.

Rounding out the Top 10 were Martin Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer, Denny Hamlin, Erik Jones and A.J. Allmendinger.

About 34 minutes into the session, a caution was displayed after Almirola’s No. 10 Ford slowed on the track. He appeared to have broken a tire rod or suffered a mechanical failure with his right-front wheel.

The track soon returned to green-flag conditions.

Three drivers – Jamie McMurray, Jeb Burton and Alex Bowman – sat out the final 15 minutes of the session after their respective cars failed pre-race inspection last weekend at Kansas.

Cla # Driver 4506 Laps Time Gap Interval Mph 1 2 United States Brad Keselowski Ford 33 19.784 95.714 2 41 Kurt Busch Ford 24 19.798 0.014 0.014 95.646 3 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 37 19.809 0.025 0.011 95.593 4 12 Ryan Blaney Ford 20 19.858 0.074 0.049 95.357 5 10 Aric Almirola Ford 36 19.874 0.090 0.016 95.280 6 78 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 36 19.879 0.095 0.005 95.256 7 14 United States Clint Bowyer Ford 39 19.904 0.120 0.025 95.137 8 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 38 19.906 0.122 0.002 95.127 9 20 Erik Jones Toyota 33 19.937 0.153 0.031 94.979 10 47 A.J. Allmendinger Chevrolet 36 19.986 0.202 0.049 94.746 11 4 Kevin Harvick Ford 45 19.998 0.214 0.012 94.689 12 21 United States Paul Menard Ford 37 19.999 0.215 0.001 94.685 13 31 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 38 20.004 0.220 0.005 94.661 14 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 29 20.013 0.229 0.009 94.618 15 42 Kyle Larson Chevrolet 45 20.017 0.233 0.004 94.600 16 9 Chase Elliott Chevrolet 53 20.019 0.235 0.002 94.590 17 37 United States Chris Buescher Chevrolet 48 20.027 0.243 0.008 94.552 18 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 31 20.028 0.244 0.001 94.548 19 19 Mexico Daniel Suarez Toyota 15 20.032 0.248 0.004 94.529 20 22 Joey Logano Ford 53 20.035 0.251 0.003 94.515 21 6 Matt Kenseth Ford 31 20.036 0.252 0.001 94.510 22 43 United States Darrell Wallace Jr. Chevrolet 45 20.059 0.275 0.023 94.402 23 3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 46 20.063 0.279 0.004 94.383 24 88 Alex Bowman Chevrolet 34 20.086 0.302 0.023 94.275 25 13 Ty Dillon Chevrolet 53 20.123 0.339 0.037 94.101 26 24 William Byron Chevrolet 42 20.133 0.349 0.010 94.055 27 38 United States David Ragan Ford 29 20.149 0.365 0.016 93.980 28 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 28 20.174 0.390 0.025 93.863 29 72 Cole Whitt Chevrolet 15 20.177 0.393 0.003 93.849 30 34 Michael McDowell Ford 38 20.179 0.395 0.002 93.840 31 95 Regan Smith Chevrolet 34 20.183 0.399 0.004 93.822 32 32 United States Matt DiBenedetto Ford 30 20.224 0.440 0.041 93.631 33 23 J.J. Yeley Toyota 28 20.462 0.678 0.238 92.542 34 15 Ross Chastain Chevrolet 28 20.464 0.680 0.002 92.533 35 96 Canada D.J. Kennington Toyota 23 20.515 0.731 0.051 92.303 36 7 Hermie Sadler Chevrolet 19 20.780 0.996 0.265 91.126 37 00 United States Joey Gase Chevrolet 39 20.905 1.121 0.125 90.581 38 51 Jeb Burton Ford 20 21.014 1.230 0.109 90.111 39 66 Timmy Hill Toyota 16 21.053 1.269 0.039 89.944

Take a virtual lap around the historic short track, courtesy of NASCAR Heat 3.

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