RELATED: Final practice results | Sunday’s lineup
Martin Truex Jr. rose to the top of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series leaderboard in the final practice Saturday at Pocono Raceway.
Truex, who will start first in Monday’s Pennsylvania 400 (11 a.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM) after his chart-topping performance in Friday’s Coors Light Pole Qualifying, registered a lap of 176.377 mph in the Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Toyota.
Brad Keselowski hustled the Team Penske No. 2 Ford to the second-fastest lap at 176.136 mph on the 2.5-mile triangular track. Keselowski, scheduled for double-duty in the NASCAR XFINITY Series at Iowa Speedway on Saturday night, will start seventh in Sunday’s 400-miler.
Kevin Harvick, racing this weekend without suspended crew chief Rodney Childers, was third-fastest with a lap of 176.012 mph in the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Chevrolet. Kurt Busch and rookie Chase Elliott completed the top five in the 80-minute session.
Truex Jr. also logged the fastest 10-lap average at 174.625 mph, with Austin Dillon (174.442 mph) second and Harvick (174.384 mph) third.
Four-time series champion Jeff Gordon was 24th-fastest in final prep for his second Sprint Cup start of the season as a replacement for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet. Earnhardt is sitting out for the third straight weekend with concussion-like symptoms.
Defending race winner Matt Kenseth notched the 18th-fastest lap in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota. Kyle Busch, the defending Sprint Cup champ and last weekend’s winner at Indianapolis, was sixth-fastest in another Gibbs entry, the No. 18 Toyota.