Mark Martin paces Saturday Cup practice at Homestead
HOMESTEAD, Fla. - Hendrick Motorsports' Mark Martin led Saturday's first practice session in preparation for Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Ford 400 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Martin, who is second in the series standings, turned a lap of 168.177 mph, while Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin was second with a speed of 167.884 mph. Hamlin is eighth in the 12-driver Chase For The Sprint Cup standings.
Jimmie Johnson (Hendrick Motorsports) was third and Ryan Newman (Stewart-Haas Racing) was fourth quickest. Of the top five drivers in practice, only fifth-place Kyle Busch (JGR) isn’t in the Chase For The Sprint Cup.
Sixth fastest was Jeff Burton (Richard Childress Racing). Chase drivers Greg Biffle (Roush Fenway Racing) and Kasey Kahne (Richard Petty Motorsports) were seventh and eighth, respectively.
Rounding out the top 10 were Joey Logano (JGR) and Martin Truex Jr. (Earnhardt Ganassi Racing).
Other Chase drivers: Juan Pablo Montoya (Earnhardt Ganassi) was 13th, Jeff Gordon (Hendrick) was 17th, Brian Vickers (Red Bull Racing) was 18th, Kurt Busch (Penske Racing) was 21st, Tony Stewart (Stewart-Haas) was 23rd and Carl Edwards (Roush Fenway) was 31st.
Erik Darnell (Hall of Fame Racing) brushed the wall but did not need to go to a backup car.
Final practice is at 2:50 p.m. EST and Sunday's race starts at 3:15 p.m. and will be televised on ABC.
