NSCS: Denny Hamlin Leads STP 500 Saturday Morning Practice

When you come to Martinsville, there’s three drivers that are always good – Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon. Those three would be at the top of charts on Saturday morning.

Hamlin would top the charts with a lap of 19.499 seconds as he searches for his fifth victory at the paperclip. With Chevrolet having swept the previous eight races, the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry commented on Friday that it’d be huge for his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team to win.

“It would be (huge) and obviously it’s been said 1000 times about when the last Toyota win has been,” Hamlin said. “It’s been tough and it’s been a hard year for the organization and the manufacturer. Not that a win here would just satisfy all those needs – we still know that realistically we’ve got a lot of work to do, but it definitely would take a lot of pressure off because right now we’re all in that hornets’ nest of the bubble spot if this thing comes down to points.”

Jimmie Johnson was second quickest, 0.025 seconds off of Hamlin, ahead of his Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne. Hamlin’s teammate Carl Edwards would round out the top-five.

Paul Menard was sixth, followed by Ryan Newman, Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr., and Kevin Harvick. Defending race winner Kurt Busch was 12th.

2015 NSCS STP 500 Second Practice Session Speeds

(i) Ineligible for Driver Points in this Series
# Denotes Rookie

Source: Timing and Scoring provided by NASCARMedia/NASCAR Statistics

About the Author

Ashley McCubbin

Joining OnPitRoad.com mid-2013 season, Ashley McCubbin is now the Managing Editor and contributes to each racing division as needed. Since studying journalism at the University of Guelph-Humber, Ashley has published articles on a couple of different websites, while serving as a public relations representative for different short track teams. Born in North York, Ontario, Ashley currently lives in Bradford, Ontario and spends her weekend at the local short tracks in the area. She has spent her entire life at the short track level, falling in love with the sport at the age of five. Beyond her love of short track racing, she also has grown an interest for both NASCAR and the IndyCar Racing Series. She also enjoys taking photos and working on websites, while playing a couple rounds of Candy Crush afterwards.

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