RELATED: Final practice results | Pit stall assignments | 10-lap averages
Brad Keselowski soared to the top of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series leaderboard in final practice Saturday afternoon at Texas Motor Speedway.
Keselowski claimed the top perch with a best lap of 190.685 mph in the Team Penske No. 2 Ford. He’ll start fourth in Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) after a solid effort in Friday’s Coors Light Pole Qualifying on the 1.5-mile track.
Martin Truex Jr. — like Keselowski, a contender who saw his championship hopes fizzle in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs’ previous round — was second-fastest in the 50-minute session. He turned a best lap of 189.787 mph in the Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Toyota.
Kyle Busch, a winner at the Fort Worth track in April, shook off an eventful Friday to post the third-fastest lap in Saturday’s final practice. His Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota clocked a 189.753 mph lap to secure his spot as the fastest of the eight remaining Chase contenders.
Fellow Chaser Joey Logano was fourth-best (189.707 mph) in the Team Penske No. 22 Ford with rookie Chase Elliott (189.447) completing the top five.
The remaining Chase drivers and their rank in final practice: Carl Edwards (eighth), Kurt Busch (10th), Jimmie Johnson (15th), Denny Hamlin (18th) and Matt Kenseth (19th). Of those, only Johnson — on the strength of his Martinsville victory last weekend — has clinched a berth in the Championship 4 Nov. 20 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Austin Dillon, who landed his third career Sprint Cup pole in Friday qualifying, was 11th-fastest in final practice.
Blaney tops Saturday’s early practice (Practice 2 results)
Ryan Blaney led Saturday’s first Sprint Cup Series practice at Texas Motor Speedway, notching a top speed of 188.515 mph.
The Wood Brothers Racing driver put up his fastest time on his first lap out of 31 runs.
AJ Allmendinger was second-fastest to Blaney with a speed of 188.508 mph.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (187.846 mph), Casey Mears (187.826 mph) and Paul Menard (187.572 mph) completed the top five, respectively.
The fastest Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup driver was Joey Logano, coming in as ninth-fastest at 187.026 mph.
Chase contender and 2014 Sprint Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick — who was quickest in Friday’s practice — was 30th-fastest today (183.761 mph).
Defending series champion and two-time Texas victor Kyle Busch hit the wall in yesterday’s opening practice and was forced to a backup No. 18 Toyota. Busch came in at 23rd-fastest (184.704 mph).
Jimmie Johnson, a six-time winner at the Lone Star State track and the winner of the last four fall races at Texas, was 16th-fastest (185.810 mph). Johnson’s win last weekend at Martinsville has already put the Hendrick Motorsports driver in the Chase’s Championship 4.
Polesitter for Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBC) Austin Dillon was 25th-fastest (184.150 mph).