Hendrick Motorsports is looking for its 200th NASCAR Sprint Cup victory this week at Martinsville Speedway and if Friday’s practice session is any indication, that could happen Sunday afternoon in the Goody’s Fast Relief 500.
Hendrick teammates made a strong showing in the first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice session. Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Kasey Kahne and Jeff Gordon finished in the top-10. Gordon was the only driver to post a speed over 97 mph in both.
Kevin Harvick, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regular, was the fastest in the first practice session for the Kroger 250. Behind the wheel of the No. 2 Tide/Kroger Chevrolet, he was one of five drivers to finish in the top-10 in both practice sessions, posting the 10th-place finish in the final session.
“It’s fun to finally get that win out of the way last year (Goody’s Fast Relief 500), and hopefully we can start putting a few more of them in the victory column and go from there,” Harvick said. “It’s been good start to the season, and hopefully we can keep it rolling.”
Todd Bodine, Justin Lofton and Nelson Piquet, Jr. also posted top-10 speeds in both sessions. Piquet, Jr. finished atop the final practice session with a top speed of 95.022.
Gates open at 9 a.m. in preparation for Kroger 250 qualifying at 10:05 a.m. and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying at 11:40 a.m.
PRE-RACE TRACK PASS: For $20 fans can walk along the front stretch of the historic half-mile track from 9:15 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. on race morning. Fans are close enough to the pits that they can get a good look at what happens there on race morning.
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