STP 500 Practice Speeds

STP 500 Practice Speeds

By: NASCAR Wagers, NASCAR Handicapping Service

Racing festivities began at Martinsville Speedway today for this weekend’s STP 500. Drivers rolled onto the track about 12:00pm eastern for the first 90 minute practice session. Denny Hamlin, who missed last week’s race because he needed a piece of metal removed from his eye, posted the fasted lap of the segment with a lap of 100.02mph. Hamlin has had a lot of success in his home state of Virginia winning 4 of his 16 career starts at NASCAR’s shortest track. Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch were also strong in the early hours of racing action posting the 3rd and 8th fastest times respectively.

Brad Keselowski posted the best 10 lap average late in Friday’s first practice with an average speed of 96.45mph. Despite having the 4th best average finish of all active drivers, Keselowski has never won at Martinsville Speedway and has just one top 5 finish in his 8 career starts. However, the blue deuce has been fast everywhere this season so it will be interesting to see if he can contend for one of those grandfather clocks. Racing action will continue later today with qualifying for the STP 500 scheduled for 4:40pm eastern. Also keep an eye on the weather for the next few days. NASCAR may have to contend with mother nature again this weekend as rain is in the forecast.

STP 500 Practice 1 Speeds:

Best 10 Lap Averages: