Hendrick teammates Elliott and Johnson top final Dover practice

In Happy Hour for the Apache Warrior 400, Elliott posted the best single-lap speed — 157.363mph.

The driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy, who has relied on his teammate and 11-time Dover winner Jimmie Johnson for assistance, completed 60 laps in final practice.

“I’ve been trying to talk to him every time I’ve ever been,” Elliott said. “I still haven’t figured it out, but yes, I would say he is the best there, no doubt. I would love to know what makes him so good at that track.

“I feel like I have learned some things and have gotten better there over the past few races. We had a solid race there last time. I had a solid race in the fall of last year too. I think we are gaining on it. We are not to his level by any means, but I think we are gaining on it.”

Johnson was second-quick followed by Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, Jamie McMurray, Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne, Ryan Blaney and Daniel Suarez. Busch’s 80 laps were the most completed during the 55-minute session.

Martin Truex Jr. led the field to final practice with Larson in tow but they completed didn’t complete a lap before bringing their cars to pit road for time out. Kenseth, Austin Dillon, Clint Bowyer, Matt DiBenedetto, Erik Jones, Earnhardt, Newman, Kahne, McDowell, Ross Chastain and Brett Moffitt also served practice penalties.

After the first 20 drivers completed their initial runs, Elliott led with a single-lap speed of 157.363mph. followed by Johnson, Kyle Busch, Mcmurray, Hamlin, Blaney, Suarez, Logano, Keselowski and Kurt Busch.

“I get a little loose in the center of 3 and 4 under max load,” Hamlin tells crew chief Mike Wheeler.

Harvick moved up to third with a lap of 156.897mph before the 10-minute mark. Elliott continued to lead followed by Johnson, Harvick, Kyle Busch, McMurray, Hamlin, Blaney, Suarez, Logano and Keselowski.

NASCAR released the Nos. 3, 5, 15, 31, 32, 77, 78 and 83 cars from practice holds. Kahne, Chastain and Moffitt’s teams failed inspection twice at Loudon. Dillon, Newman, DiBenedetto, Jones and Truex failed Dover qualifying inspection twice.

Elliott continued to lead the session after the first group of cars joined practice. Kurt Busch ran 11th-quick followed by Truex, Aric Almirola, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Trevor Bayne, Jones, David Ragan, Newman, Ty Dillon and Kahne.

Kenseth, Bowyer, Larson and Earnhardt joined practice after serving 30-minute penalties. Larson topped the foursome, moving to 17th-quick (154.919mph) after eight laps. Bowyer was 22nd (154.288mph) and Earnhardt 26th on the speed chart (153.951mph) after 12 laps.

“It’s not terrible,” Bowyer said.

Kenseth returned to the garage for a fresh set of tires. When he came back on the track, he was 17th-quick in his first lap (155.055mph).

With 10 minutes remaining, Elliott continued to sit P1. Johnson, Harvick, Larson (156.658mph), Kyle Busch, McMurray, Hamlin, Kahne, Blaney and Suarez rounded out the top 10. Suarez’s 62 laps were the most completed.

Thirty-two cars posted Best 10 Consecutive Lap Averages with Kyle Busch (155.518) leading the category followed by Elliott (155.510), Hamlin (155.049), McMurray (155.006mph), Larson (154.945), Johnson (154.792), Blaney (154.563), Harvick (154.447), Keselowski (154.444) and Kurt Busch (154.276).

Cla	#	Driver	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Mph
1	24	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	60	22.877			157.363
2	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	69	22.944	0.067	0.067	156.904
3	4	Kevin Harvick	Ford	54	22.945	0.068	0.001	156.897
4	42	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	36	22.980	0.103	0.035	156.658
5	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	80	22.984	0.107	0.004	156.631
6	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	67	22.988	0.111	0.004	156.603
7	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	60	23.082	0.205	0.094	155.966
8	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	45	23.083	0.206	0.001	155.959
9	21	Ryan Blaney	Ford	48	23.088	0.211	0.005	155.925
10	19	Daniel Suarez	Toyota	62	23.099	0.222	0.011	155.851
11	14	Clint Bowyer	Ford	34	23.112	0.235	0.013	155.763
12	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	48	23.115	0.238	0.003	155.743
13	22	Joey Logano	Ford	56	23.115	0.238	0.000	155.743
14	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	51	23.128	0.251	0.013	155.655
15	41	Kurt Busch	Ford	52	23.147	0.270	0.019	155.528
16	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	47	23.183	0.306	0.036	155.286
17	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	62	23.185	0.308	0.002	155.273
18	6	Trevor Bayne	Ford	47	23.199	0.322	0.014	155.179
19	77	Erik Jones	Toyota	42	23.224	0.347	0.025	155.012
20	20	Matt Kenseth	Toyota	21	23.225	0.348	0.001	155.005
21	38	David Ragan	Ford	55	23.255	0.378	0.030	154.805
22	31	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	39	23.260	0.383	0.005	154.772
23	13	Ty Dillon	Chevrolet	58	23.279	0.402	0.019	154.646
24	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	50	23.336	0.459	0.057	154.268
25	10	Danica Patrick	Ford	55	23.351	0.474	0.015	154.169
26	47	A.J. Allmendinger	Chevrolet	40	23.354	0.477	0.003	154.149
27	34	Landon Cassill	Ford	57	23.358	0.481	0.004	154.123
28	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	31	23.384	0.507	0.026	153.951
29	37	Chris Buescher	Chevrolet	42	23.406	0.529	0.022	153.807
30	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	46	23.429	0.552	0.023	153.656
31	32	Matt DiBenedetto	Ford	37	23.569	0.692	0.140	152.743
32	55	Reed Sorenson	Toyota	31	23.716	0.839	0.147	151.796
33	15	Ross Chastain	Chevrolet	35	23.760	0.883	0.044	151.515
34	72	Cole Whitt	Chevrolet	31	23.840	0.963	0.080	151.007
35	83	Brett Moffitt	Toyota	22	23.948	1.071	0.108	150.326
36	33	Jeffrey Earnhardt	Chevrolet	32	24.083	1.206	0.135	149.483
37	23	Corey Lajoie	Toyota	22	24.089	1.212	0.006	149.446
38	51	B.J. McLeod	Chevrolet	20	24.541	1.664	0.452	146.693