Bobby Travis · NASCAR/IndyCar Correspondent
On the tight 'Paperclip' in Virginia, Ryan Preece went fastest in the final practice before the penultimate Chase race, while behind him thousandths of a second often decided the order.
Ryan Preece set the fastest time on Saturday in the only practice session ahead of the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway. The RFK Racing driver turned his quickest lap in 19.600 seconds, putting Josh Berry (Wood Brothers Racing) and Todd Gilliland (Front Row Motorsports) second and third. The session, held around midday local time on Saturday, was the last chance before qualifying to gather long-run data for the 500-lap race on the tight Virginia short track, where tire wear traditionally plays a central role.
A tight field on the Paperclip
Preece was 0.079 seconds clear of Berry, and the field behind them was closely bunched: Gilliland ahead of Ty Gibbs (Joe Gibbs Racing, just 0.006 seconds back), Ross Chastain (Trackhouse Racing, a further 0.009 seconds), Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing), Carson Hocevar (Spire Motorsports), Chase Elliott (Hendrick Motorsports), Michael McDowell (Spire Motorsports) and Christopher Bell (Joe Gibbs Racing) rounded out the top 10, only 0.202 seconds off the fastest time. On a track just 0.526 miles long, those are margins that can decide entire rows of positions in the race.
Within the teams, several head-to-heads were razor-thin. At Joe Gibbs Racing, Gibbs was just 0.020 seconds ahead of teammate Hamlin, at Team Penske Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano were separated by a mere 0.001 seconds, and the gap between John Hunter Nemechek and Erik Jones at Legacy Motor Club was exactly the same. The differences were somewhat clearer at RFK Racing, where Preece was 0.229 seconds ahead of Chris Buescher, and at Front Row Motorsports, where Gilliland had 0.264 seconds in hand over Zane Smith.
Tire management and Chase favorites in focus
Preece himself underlined how important long-run pace is on one of the most tire-intensive tracks on the Cup calendar: this weekend, he said, the key is looking after the tires, not saving fuel. The best ten-lap average in practice belonged to Ross Chastain. Whoever can keep the tires alive over long stints on Sunday will gain a decisive edge in traffic on the tight short-track restarts.
For the top of the Chase standings, practice sent mixed signals. Hamlin, who enters the weekend 73 points behind leader Kyle Larson, showed solid pace in sixth, while Larson himself only ended up 29th in practice. According to reports, Larson needs 59 more points to mathematically clinch the title before the season finale at Homestead, with the Xfinity 500 being the penultimate race of the season. Behind Hamlin in the Chase standings are, among others, Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe, Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney. Bell (P10), Blaney (P12) and Logano (P13) were also near the front in practice, while Briscoe dropped back slightly in 19th.
Change ahead at RFK Racing, Herbst races despite injury
Away from the lap times, RFK Racing made headlines on Saturday morning: the team and Brad Keselowski agreed on a new ownership structure in which Keselowski will take on a passive role going forward, the team announced. This clears the way for Keselowski, who leaves RFK as a driver after this season, to race for another team from 2027. He intends to sell his 20 percent stake in the team. In practice, Keselowski was 32nd, while teammate Preece set the fastest time.
At 23XI Racing, meanwhile, Riley Herbst took to the track despite a left wrist injury from his heavy crash at Talladega, after 23XI co-owner Denny Hamlin had declared him fit to race. Harrison Burton was on standby as a replacement. Herbst was 27th in practice, just behind teammate Bubba Wallace in 24th.
Qualifying on Saturday afternoon then set the starting grid for Sunday's race at 2 p.m. local time.
