Blogs

Brian Polking

Final Practice: LENOX Industrial Tools 301

June 27, 2009 4:45pm CDT

It was a mixture of expected and unexpected drivers topping the charts in Happy Hour at New Hampshire. The surprises started at the top with former winners and RCR teammates Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer posting the first and second best average speeds in the final session. Neither driver has been close to winning a race in since the first month of the season, but both appear to have very strong cars for tomorrow's race.

Rounding out the top five in Happy Hour were Kurt Busch, Greg Biffle and Martin Truex Jr. Busch is the defending winner of this event and a three-time winner at NHMS while Biffle won here in the Chase last season. Truex Jr. posted the fastest individual lap of the session and enters Sunday's race with four straight top sevens at the track. All three drivers were considered favorites coming into the weekend, and their practice times show why.

Big names like Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin also cracked the top 10 in Happy Hour, but a few drivers that are expected to contend for the victory tomorrow struggled. Former winners Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch failed to record top-20 times, and the same holds true for Roush Fenway Racing teammates Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth. Hamlin is the biggest surprise of the bunch considering he has never finished worse than 15th at New Hampshire.

If you are looking for a sleeper pick for tomorrow's event, check out Reed Sorenson. He posted the fastest individual lap and best average speed in the first session Saturday. Sorenson backed it up with the fourth-best lap time in Happy Hour and foruth-best average speed for the two sessions combined.

Happy Hour Speeds (sorted by average speed)
Rank indicates individual fastest lap

Rank Car Driver Make Top Speed Best Time Avg. Speed Laps
6 29 Kevin Harvick Chevy 127.645 29.84 126.35 43
15 33 Clint Bowyer Chevy 127.299 29.92 126.316 53
8 2 Kurt Busch Dodge 127.589 29.85 126.292 60
3 16 Greg Biffle Ford 127.709 29.82 126.269 42
1 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevy 128.186 29.71 126.253 43
17 14 Tony Stewart Chevy 127.291 29.92 126.222 55
2 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevy 127.795 29.8 126.119 61
5 5 Mark Martin Chevy 127.662 29.84 126.101 52
7 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Chevy 127.624 29.84 126.074 43
18 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 127.278 29.92 125.983 46
19 12 David Stremme Dodge 127.24 29.93 125.957 46
16 24 Jeff Gordon Chevy 127.295 29.92 125.946 41
14 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge 127.304 29.92 125.937 53
4 43 Reed Sorenson Dodge 127.666 29.83 125.881 37
20 39 Ryan Newman Chevy 127.13 29.96 125.862 39
28 44 A.J. Allmendinger Toyota 126.783 30.04 125.83 37
23 6 David Ragan Ford 127.074 29.97 125.814 38
9 0 David Reutimann Toyota 127.517 29.87 125.785 47
21 7 Casey Mears Chevy 127.113 29.96 125.713 36
11 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 127.389 29.9 125.712 43
12 47 Marcos Ambrose Toyota 127.329 29.91 125.673 36
30 9 Brad Keselowski Chevy 126.766 30.05 125.629 29
24 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 127.04 29.98 125.616 47
35 99 Carl Edwards Ford 126.526 30.1 125.533 46
31 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 126.601 30.08 125.518 50
22 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 127.074 29.97 125.514 25
36 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 126.442 30.12 125.508 47
34 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevy 126.547 30.1 125.491 41
25 31 Jeff Burton Chevy 127.011 29.99 125.466 58
27 36 Patrick Carpentier Toyota 126.825 30.03 125.457 16
37 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota 126.408 30.13 125.429 24
32 98 Paul Menard Ford 126.563 30.09 125.407 46
13 20 Joey Logano Toyota 127.316 29.92 125.386 33
10 96 Bobby Labonte Ford 127.41 29.89 125.34 55
39 78 Regan Smith Chevy 126.157 30.19 125.289 33
29 26 Jamie McMurray Ford 126.77 30.04 125.277 46
33 82 Scott Speed Toyota 126.559 30.1 125.211 27
41 71 David Gilliland Chevy 125.832 30.27 124.953 30
38 7 Robby Gordon Toyota 126.391 30.14 124.945 40
26 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge 126.947 30 124.872 34
40 66 Dave Blaney Toyota 125.982 30.23 124.572 14
42 34 John Andretti Chevy 125.203 30.42 124.107 33
43 37 Tony Raines Chevy 123.743 30.78 122.901 12

Second Practice Speeds (sorted by average speed)
Rank indicates individual fastest lap

Rank Car Driver Make Top Speed Best Time Avg. Speed Laps
1 43 Reed Sorenson Dodge 128.472 29.65 126.921 29
12 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge 127.739 29.82 126.849 27
9 2 Kurt Busch Dodge 127.769 29.81 126.673 50
17 5 Mark Martin Chevy 127.645 29.84 126.647 22
25 33 Clint Bowyer Chevy 127.393 29.9 126.579 30
10 29 Kevin Harvick Chevy 127.765 29.81 126.548 36
13 39 Ryan Newman Chevy 127.718 29.82 126.519 33
4 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevy 128.126 29.73 126.51 37
6 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevy 127.971 29.76 126.507 49
7 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Chevy 127.945 29.77 126.507 36
19 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 127.615 29.85 126.505 45
24 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 127.495 29.87 126.366 25
11 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 127.743 29.82 126.312 42
14 24 Jeff Gordon Chevy 127.671 29.83 126.282 50
18 99 Carl Edwards Ford 127.641 29.84 126.264 32
30 12 David Stremme Dodge 127.202 29.94 126.245 27
35 44 A.J. Allmendinger Toyota 127.04 29.98 126.233 38
23 14 Tony Stewart Chevy 127.504 29.87 126.232 46
8 31 Jeff Burton Chevy 127.902 29.78 126.219 45
16 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 127.649 29.84 126.174 40
22 6 David Ragan Ford 127.555 29.86 126.161 37
27 16 Greg Biffle Ford 127.304 29.92 126.15 41
32 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 127.185 29.95 126.131 36
5 0 David Reutimann Toyota 128.027 29.75 126.115 38
3 7 Casey Mears Chevy 128.135 29.72 126.027 25
37 78 Regan Smith Chevy 126.795 30.04 125.979 24
15 96 Bobby Labonte Ford 127.654 29.84 125.901 40
29 82 Scott Speed Toyota 127.21 29.94 125.857 21
20 47 Marcos Ambrose Toyota 127.581 29.85 125.821 32
28 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevy 127.244 29.93 125.7 35
33 20 Joey Logano Toyota 127.18 29.95 125.663 40
2 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 128.208 29.71 125.65 3
26 71 David Gilliland Chevy 127.308 29.92 125.647 30
31 98 Paul Menard Ford 127.193 29.94 125.608 30
21 26 Jamie McMurray Ford 127.581 29.85 125.533 25
40 66 Dave Blaney Toyota 126.123 30.2 125.509 11
39 7 Robby Gordon Toyota 126.488 30.11 125.324 22
36 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge 127.002 29.99 125.194 22
41 9 Brad Keselowski Chevy 126.082 30.21 125.134 36
34 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota 127.074 29.97 124.568 24
42 34 John Andretti Chevy 125.463 30.36 124.416 24
38 36 Patrick Carpentier Toyota 126.643 30.08 124.41 15
43 37 Tony Raines Chevy 124.029 30.71 121.806 6

Combined Average Speeds

Rank Car Driver Average Speed
1 2 Kurt Busch 126.483
2 29 Kevin Harvick 126.449
3 33 Clint Bowyer 126.448
4 43 Reed Sorenson 126.401
5 9 Kasey Kahne 126.393
6 1 Martin Truex Jr. 126.382
7 5 Mark Martin 126.374
8 48 Jimmie Johnson 126.313
9 42 Juan Pablo Montoya 126.291
10 77 Sam Hornish Jr. 126.244
11 14 Tony Stewart 126.227
12 16 Greg Biffle 126.210
13 39 Ryan Newman 126.191
14 24 Jeff Gordon 126.114
15 12 David Stremme 126.101
16 44 A.J. Allmendinger 126.032
17 18 Kyle Busch 126.012
18 6 David Ragan 125.988
19 0 David Reutimann 125.950
20 17 Matt Kenseth 125.942
21 99 Carl Edwards 125.899
22 11 Denny Hamlin 125.895
23 7 Casey Mears 125.870
24 31 Jeff Burton 125.843
25 83 Brian Vickers 125.820
26 47 Marcos Ambrose 125.747
27 78 Regan Smith 125.634
28 96 Bobby Labonte 125.621
29 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 125.596
30 87 Joe Nemechek 125.582
31 82 Scott Speed 125.534
32 20 Joey Logano 125.525
33 98 Paul Menard 125.508
34 26 Jamie McMurray 125.405
35 9 Brad Keselowski 125.382
36 71 David Gilliland 125.300
37 7 Robby Gordon 125.135
38 66 Dave Blaney 125.041
39 19 Elliott Sadler 125.033
40 55 Michael Waltrip 124.999
41 36 Patrick Carpentier 124.934
42 34 John Andretti 124.262
43 37 Tony Raines 122.354

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