Important Notes: This first practice was ran early in the morning at Martinsville, and the track temperature was significantly colder than what it will be during the race. Many teams weren’t in too much of a rush for this session, and Happy Hour later today will be more telling at who is fast. William Byron blew a tire early in the session and hit the wall. His #24 Chevrolet got some damage but they did NOT have to get the backup car. Corey LaJoie had a similar experience later in the session, but he had much more damage. The #32 team had to bring out the backup car.
Drivers who served a 15-minute penalty during this session: Michael McDowell
Top 20-Lap Averages during the session:
- Kyle Busch (19.67 seconds)
- Chase Elliott (19.79 seconds)
- Kyle Larson (19.81 seconds)
- Joey Logano (19.89 seconds)
- Denny Hamlin (19.93 seconds)
- Jimmie Johnson (20.05 seconds)
- Bubba Wallace (20.06 seconds)
- Clint Bowyer (20.10 seconds)
- Michael McDowell (20.10 seconds)
For easy printing, click here to download the PDF of these speeds.
Practice Speeds
| Rank | Driver | Time | Back | Speed | Fastest Lap | Laps Ran |
| 1 | Clint Bowyer | 19.387 | —.— | 97.674 | 49 | 49 |
| 2 | Daniel Suarez | 19.470 | -0.083 | 97.257 | 18 | 20 |
| 3 | Aric Almirola | 19.521 | -0.134 | 97.003 | 43 | 43 |
| 4 | Martin Truex Jr. | 19.534 | -0.147 | 96.939 | 24 | 45 |
| 5 | Kyle Busch | 19.545 | -0.158 | 96.884 | 11 | 51 |
| 6 | Brad Keselowski | 19.576 | -0.189 | 96.731 | 12 | 50 |
| 7 | Chris Buescher | 19.593 | -0.206 | 96.647 | 43 | 43 |
| 8 | Joey Logano | 19.620 | -0.233 | 96.514 | 9 | 67 |
| 9 | Denny Hamlin | 19.634 | -0.247 | 96.445 | 11 | 53 |
| 10 | Chase Elliott | 19.634 | -0.247 | 96.445 | 17 | 62 |
| 11 | Kevin Harvick | 19.640 | -0.253 | 96.416 | 20 | 44 |
| 12 | Ryan Blaney | 19.641 | -0.254 | 96.411 | 13 | 52 |
| 13 | Jimmie Johnson | 19.668 | -0.281 | 96.278 | 7 | 55 |
| 14 | Erik Jones | 19.671 | -0.284 | 96.264 | 7 | 44 |
| 15 | Kyle Larson | 19.694 | -0.307 | 96.151 | 10 | 56 |
| 16 | Austin Dillon | 19.696 | -0.309 | 96.141 | 12 | 46 |
| 17 | Paul Menard | 19.726 | -0.339 | 95.995 | 24 | 48 |
| 18 | Alex Bowman | 19.733 | -0.346 | 95.961 | 7 | 60 |
| 19 | Bubba Wallace | 19.738 | -0.351 | 95.937 | 18 | 44 |
| 20 | Ryan Preece | 19.742 | -0.355 | 95.917 | 9 | 42 |
| 21 | Ty Dillon | 19.751 | -0.364 | 95.874 | 22 | 47 |
| 22 | Matt DiBenedetto | 19.757 | -0.370 | 95.845 | 10 | 46 |
| 23 | Kurt Busch | 19.759 | -0.372 | 95.835 | 10 | 41 |
| 24 | Corey LaJoie | 19.769 | -0.382 | 95.786 | 22 | 22 |
| 25 | Ryan Newman | 19.790 | -0.403 | 95.685 | 15 | 36 |
| 26 | David Ragan | 19.808 | -0.421 | 95.598 | 16 | 40 |
| 27 | Daniel Hemric | 19.859 | -0.472 | 95.352 | 16 | 54 |
| 28 | Michael McDowell | 19.869 | -0.482 | 95.304 | 18 | 23 |
| 29 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 19.879 | -0.492 | 95.256 | 23 | 48 |
| 30 | Matt Tifft | 19.925 | -0.538 | 95.036 | 19 | 39 |
| 31 | Ross Chastain | 19.967 | -0.580 | 94.837 | 24 | 35 |
| 32 | Landon Cassill | 20.032 | -0.645 | 94.529 | 12 | 38 |
| 33 | Jeb Burton | 20.236 | -0.849 | 93.576 | 12 | 17 |
| 34 | Cody Ware | 20.262 | -0.875 | 93.456 | 9 | 9 |
| 35 | DJ Kennington | 20.435 | -1.048 | 92.665 | 22 | 27 |
| 36 | William Byron | 20.606 | -1.219 | 91.896 | 2 | 2 |
Ten-Lap Averages
| Rank | Driver | From Lap | To Lap | Avg Speed |
| 1 | Kyle Busch | 8 | 17 | 96.642 |
| 2 | Aric Almirola | 8 | 17 | 96.372 |
| 3 | Martin Truex, Jr. | 19 | 28 | 96.305 |
| 4 | Ryan Blaney | 6 | 15 | 96.103 |
| 5 | Clint Bowyer | 11 | 20 | 96.027 |
| 6 | Denny Hamlin | 6 | 15 | 95.934 |
| 7 | Chase Elliott | 22 | 31 | 95.887 |
| 8 | Kyle Larson | 10 | 19 | 95.812 |
| 9 | Erik Jones | 4 | 13 | 95.810 |
| 10 | Kevin Harvick | 6 | 15 | 95.803 |
| 11 | Brad Keselowski | 6 | 15 | 95.753 |
| 12 | Paul Menard | 27 | 36 | 95.554 |
| 13 | Jimmie Johnson | 6 | 15 | 95.489 |
| 14 | Joey Logano | 23 | 32 | 95.299 |
| 15 | David Ragan | 15 | 24 | 95.293 |
| 16 | Chris Buescher | 23 | 32 | 95.208 |
| 17 | Austin Dillon | 30 | 39 | 95.202 |
| 18 | Alex Bowman | 31 | 40 | 95.057 |
| 19 | Ty Dillon | 20 | 29 | 95.011 |
| 20 | Michael McDowell | 12 | 21 | 94.987 |
| 21 | Matt DiBenedetto | 22 | 31 | 94.855 |
| 22 | Ryan Preece | 3 | 12 | 94.806 |
| 23 | Bubba Wallace | 21 | 30 | 97.787 |
| 24 | Kurt Busch | 3 | 12 | 94.625 |
| 25 | Daniel Hemric | 20 | 29 | 94.620 |
| 26 | Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. | 17 | 26 | 94.587 |
| 27 | Matt Tifft | 25 | 34 | 94.378 |
| 28 | Ross Chastain | 26 | 35 | 94.076 |
| 29 | Ryan Newman | 27 | 36 | 93.906 |
| 30 | Daniel Suarez | 1 | 10 | 93.356 |
| 31 | Landon Cassill | 3 | 12 | 92.201 |
| 32 | DJ Kennington | 18 | 27 | 90.994 |
