Furniture Row teammates top first Richmond practice

After just two laps, Martin Truex Jr. set the early pace with a lap of 124.178mph followed by his teammate Erik Jones (123.035mph). Truex completed 14 circuits and set overall fastest single-lap speed of 124.178mph.

Jones, Ryan Blaney (122.722mph), Trevor Bayne (122.084mph), Denny Hamlin (121.726mph), Paul Menard, Kyle Busch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kyle Larson rounded out the top 10 single-lap speeds.

In the first 10 minutes, Blaney was third followed by Bayne, Menard, Danica Patrick, Michael McDowel, Daniel Suarez, Larson and Kasey Kahne.

At the 11-minute mark, Jones tagged the wall at the exit of Turn 2 and crumpled the left rear of the No. 77 Toyota to bring out the first caution period. Track returned to green two minutes later and 23 drivers had posted time.

Six drivers were able to join practice after 15-minute holds for penalties at Texas Motor Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway. Denny Hamlin, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chris Buescher, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Ty Dillon were allowed to join the session. Truex remained the fastest car in single-lap runs.

Thirty minutes into the 95-minute session, Truex still held the top spot with no changes to the top five. Kyle Busch turned the sixth-quick lap followed by Larson, Patrick, McDowell and Suarez. The second wave of drivers serving 30-minute penalties — Joey Logano, Matt Kenseth and Austin Dillon — were released for practice.

Chase Elliott’s 41 laps were the most posted after the first hour of practice. He was 16th on the speed chart with a fast lap of 119.883mph. He topped the session with 44 laps and moved up to 12th quick overall. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. moved up to seventh knocking Suarez out of the top 10. Kurt Busch, Kasey Kahne, Denny Hamlin and Jamie McMurray rounded out the top 15.

Cla	#	Driver	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Mph
1	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	14	21.743			124.178
2	77	Erik Jones	Toyota	16	21.945	0.202	0.202	123.035
3	21	Ryan Blaney	Ford	27	21.992	0.249	0.047	122.772
4	6	Trevor Bayne	Ford	32	22.116	0.373	0.124	122.084
5	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	11	22.181	0.438	0.065	121.726
6	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	28	22.197	0.454	0.016	121.638
7	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	21	22.239	0.496	0.042	121.408
8	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	11	22.291	0.548	0.052	121.125
9	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	29	22.312	0.569	0.021	121.011
10	47	A.J. Allmendinger	Chevrolet	12	22.334	0.591	0.022	120.892