Denny Hamlin rockets to top of first Cup practice at Martinsville

Kyle Larson was leading the 55-minute session just before Hamlin completed his mock qualifying run and jumped to the top with an average lap speed of 95.415 mph just as time expired.

Hamlin is one of eight drivers remaining in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs and his successful track record at Martinsville gives him hope of a win Sunday that will advance him into the Championship 4 at Homestead.

“This is obviously statistically our best shot even though I feel like we can win each and every week. I feel pretty good about it,” Hamlin said Saturday morning before practice. “A lot of good memories here – 2009 maybe when we came from ninth with three laps to go to win the race was probably my favorite memory at this race track, but it’s been a good one.

“Something about it that fits my driving style well. We have a tire that lays a lot of rubber down now which is really good. Looking at Truck practice and Cup race from the spring, the groove has widened out quite a bit so we’re happy about that.”

Larson ended up second-fastest (95.299 mph), while Ryan Newman was third, Ryan Blaney was fourth and Kyle Busch completed the top-five.

Playoff drivers Brad Keselowski, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick were sixth, 17th, 21, 22 and 23rd-fastest, respectively.

There were no on-track incidents in the first practice but drivers Harvick and Daniel Suarez nearly avoided a collision in the garage area while one was returning from the track and the other was heading out.

Cla	#	Driver	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Mph
1	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	71	19.846			95.415
2	42	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	52	19.870	0.024	0.024	95.299
3	31	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	46	19.900	0.054	0.030	95.156
4	21	Ryan Blaney	Ford	40	19.925	0.079	0.025	95.036
5	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	47	19.932	0.086	0.007	95.003
6	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	44	19.935	0.089	0.003	94.989
7	20	Matt Kenseth	Toyota	51	20.014	0.168	0.079	94.614
8	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	40	20.042	0.196	0.028	94.482
9	47	A.J. Allmendinger	Chevrolet	43	20.043	0.197	0.001	94.477
10	13	Ty Dillon	Chevrolet	38	20.045	0.199	0.002	94.467
11	38	David Ragan	Ford	42	20.046	0.200	0.001	94.463
12	22	Joey Logano	Ford	41	20.054	0.208	0.008	94.425
13	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	54	20.085	0.239	0.031	94.279
14	95	Michael McDowell	Chevrolet	35	20.095	0.249	0.010	94.232
15	19	Daniel Suarez	Toyota	51	20.095	0.249	0.000	94.232
16	14	Clint Bowyer	Ford	36	20.111	0.265	0.016	94.157
17	24	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	60	20.113	0.267	0.002	94.148
18	37	Chris Buescher	Chevrolet	38	20.123	0.277	0.010	94.101
19	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	47	20.126	0.280	0.003	94.087
20	10	Danica Patrick	Ford	36	20.129	0.283	0.003	94.073
21	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	43	20.136	0.290	0.007	94.041
22	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	59	20.145	0.299	0.009	93.999
23	4	Kevin Harvick	Ford	40	20.161	0.315	0.016	93.924
24	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	54	20.198	0.352	0.037	93.752
25	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	56	20.207	0.361	0.009	93.710
26	41	Kurt Busch	Ford	52	20.246	0.400	0.039	93.530
27	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	41	20.271	0.425	0.025	93.414
28	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	41	20.276	0.430	0.005	93.391
29	34	Landon Cassill	Ford	41	20.322	0.476	0.046	93.180
30	72	Cole Whitt	Chevrolet	34	20.351	0.505	0.029	93.047
31	32	Matt DiBenedetto	Ford	34	20.380	0.534	0.029	92.915
32	6	Trevor Bayne	Ford	28	20.446	0.600	0.066	92.615
33	83	Gray Gaulding	Toyota	34	20.527	0.681	0.081	92.249
34	23	Corey Lajoie	Toyota	31	20.658	0.812	0.131	91.664
35	7	Hermie Sadler	Chevrolet	31	20.700	0.854	0.042	91.478
36	33	Jeffrey Earnhardt	Chevrolet	30	20.764	0.918	0.064	91.196
37	15	Reed Sorenson	Chevrolet	24	20.809	0.963	0.045	90.999
38	66	Carl Long	Chevrolet	31	21.157	1.311	0.348	89.502
39	51	Kyle Weatherman	Chevrolet	29	21.211	1.365	0.054	89.274