Saturday, September 20, 2014

Practice updates from New Hampshire

Sprint Cup Series practice 2 | Results

Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup contender Brad Keselowski led the second practice for Sunday's Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

The Cup Series points leader topped the leaderboard with a speed of 135.622 mph on his sixth lap.

Keselowski was also fastest in yesterday's opening practice at Loudon and later won the Coors Light Pole Award for Sunday's race.

He remained quick Saturday morning in chilly, overcast conditions after setting the pace under Friday's sunny skies. Warmer temperatures are expected for Sunday's 300-lapper.

"It's been really good so far," Keselowski said of trying to find the right balance for his Team Penske No. 2 Ford in race trim. "The track is not quite up to temperature yet to get the best read, but so far, so good."

Ryan Newman saw improvement from yesterday's practice that put him as 22nd-fastest as he soared to the second-fastest (134.920 mph) position in today's session.

Brian Vickers (134.916 mph), Kevin Harvick (134.901 mph) and Carl Edwards (134.853 mph) rounded out the top-five fastest.

Vickers was the only non-Chase contender in the top five.

Defending race champion Matt Kenseth was 19th-fastest (134.254 mph).

The Sprint Cup Series returns to the track for final practice at 11:30 a.m. ET with TV coverage on FOX Sports 1.


Sprint Cup Series practice 3 | Results

Jeff Gordon paced the final practice on Saturday for the Sprint Cup Series Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver posted a high speed of 135.357 mph, ousting Brad Keselowskias the leader.

Keselowski has been on a hot streak recently, coming off back-to-back wins at Richmond and Chicagoland, the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup leader topped the first two Cup practices and won the Coors Light Pole Award for tomorrow's Sylvania 300. The Team Penske driver came up short to Gordon this time with a speed of 135.256 mph.

Completing the top-five were Kevin Harvick (135.236 mph), Joey Logano (135.102 mph) andDale Earnhardt Jr. (135.054 mph).

Danica Patrick (134.944 mph), Paul Menard (134.887 mph) and Jamie McMurray (134.815 mph) were the only three drivers in the top 10 who are not Chase contenders. The three finished practice eighth, ninth and 10th, respectively.

Carl Edwards was the slowest Chase driver with a speed of 133.736 mph. Edwards was 26th-fastest in the final session.

Tony Stewart spun in the last few seconds of practice, but did not sustain any damage. The No. 14 driver finished practice 16th-fastest (134.397 mph).

The Sprint Cup Series Sylvania 300 will run Sunday at 2 p.m. ET with TV coverage on ESPN.

- NASCAR.com

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