MORE: Practice 3 results | Best 10-lap times
Martin Truex Jr. topped the leaderboard in Saturday’s final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Homestead-Miami Speedway at 171.195 mph in the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota.
Right behind him was Clint Bowyer in the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford at 169.790 mph.
Rounding out the top five were Denny Hamlin in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota at 169.774 mph, Erik Jones in the No. 77 Furniture Row Racing Toyota at 169.721 mph and Ryan Blaney in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford at 169.550 mph.
Kyle Busch joined Truex as the only other Championship 4 driver in the top 10, placing sixth at 169.492 mph. Brad Keselowski just missed, landing 11th with a best speed of 168.824 mph, while Kevin Harvick was 18th at a clip of 166.795 mph.
Harvick was held on pit road for 15 minutes before the start of practice for failing pre-race inspection twice before last weekend’s race at Phoenix. Chase Elliott, David Starr and Cole Whitt were also held the same amount for the same penalty. Starr was held an additional 15 minutes for being late to qualifying inspection at Miami. Austin Dillon and Matt DiBenedetto had to serve 15-minute penalties apiece for failing qualifying inspection twice at Miami, while David Ragan, Jimmie Johnson and Michael McDowell were all held 30 minutes for failing three times.
The next on-track activity for the series is Sunday’s season finale, the Ford EcoBoost 400 (3 p.m. ET, NBC).
PRACTICE 2 RECAP: Practice 2 results | Complete race lineup
Denny Hamlin topped the leaderboard in Saturday’s first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Homestead-Miami Speedway at 171.130 mph in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.
Hamlin won the final Coors Light Pole Award of the season Friday night with a speed of 173.980 mph.
Right behind him in practice was Dale Earnhardt Jr., making his final planned Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start, in the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet at 170.681 mph.
Rounding out the top five were Martin Truex Jr. in the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota at 170.020 mph, Kurt Busch in the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford at 169.545 mph and Kasey Kahne in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet at 168.972 mph.
Truex, the only Championship 4 driver in the top five, scraped the wall late in practice, prompting his FRR and technically-affiliated Joe Gibbs Racing crew members to work on his car in the garage.
Quick repair work on the RR before #TruexJr heads back out. He’s currently P3 and the fastest of all #Championship4 drivers. pic.twitter.com/wa2yIeqXul
– #NASCARPlayoffs (@NASCAR) November 18, 2017
The other Championship 4 drivers — Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick — were 10th, 16th and 17th, respectively.
Chase Elliott’s No. 24 Chevrolet got into the wall early in the practice session. His team feverishly worked to fix the right rear damage his ride incurred, and he got back out on the 1.5-mile track to complete 27 laps at a best speed of 166.031 mph, good for 27th on the leaderboard.