NEWS & STATS
Final Practice: O'Reilly Challenge
By Brian Polking
November 6, 2009 4:15 PM ET
Jack Roush had to be smiling after the final practice session for Saturday's Nationwide race at Texas Motor Speedway. Roush Fenway Racing swept the top three spots on the time sheets, with Carl Edwards leading the way. Matt Kenseth and David Ragan completed the top¬-three sweep. Out of the three, Kenseth is the only driver to have gone to victory lane a TMS. In fact, he has been there twice. Edwards and Ragan aren't exactly slouches either. In this race last season, both drivers notched top-five finishes.
Rounding out the top five for the session were Trevor Bayne and Mike Bliss. Bayne has proven himself a very capable qualifier in his limited action this season, and it is not unusual to see his name high on the charts. Meanwhile, Bliss continues to roll in the No. 11 car that he began driving a few weeks back. He ran 40 laps during the session, which was the most of any driver.
Brian Vickers posted the sixth best time during the session, and Kyle Busch had the seventh best lap. Busch is the guy everyone is gunning for this weekend. He has been to victory lane in each of the last three series events at Texas. Terry Cook, Justin Allgaier and Kevin Harvick completed the top-10 drivers during the final session.
A few notable names that practiced outside the top 20 were Kasey Kahne, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano. Jeff Burton decided to sit out the final session, after posting the sixth best time in the opening session. He ran 45 laps during the first practice, which was more than any other driver. There were no incidents.
Final Practice Speeds
| Rank | Car | Driver | Sponsor | Time | Speed | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 60 | Carl Edwards | Ortho Ford | 29.316 | 184.200 | 18 |
| 2 | 16 | Matt Kenseth | CitiFinancial Ford | 29.502 | 183.038 | 14 |
| 3 | 6 | David Ragan | Discount Tire Ford | 29.572 | 182.605 | 20 |
| 4 | 99 | Trevor Bayne | Aaron's Outdoors Toyota | 29.662 | 182.051 | 27 |
| 5 | 11 | Mike Bliss | Ridemakerz Toyota | 29.676 | 181.965 | 40 |
| 6 | 32 | Brian Vickers | Dollar General Stores Toyota | 29.724 | 181.671 | 15 |
| 7 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Z-Line Designs/WWE SmackDown vs Raw | 29.786 | 181.293 | 29 |
| 8 | 91 | Terry Cook | MSRP Motorsports Chevy | 29.797 | 181.226 | 1 |
| 9 | 12 | Justin Allgaier | Verizon Wireless Dodge | 29.823 | 181.068 | 26 |
| 10 | 33 | Kevin Harvick | Jimmy John's Chevy | 29.877 | 180.741 | 34 |
| 11 | 1 | Mike Wallace | Nutone/IQ Drive Chevy | 29.881 | 180.717 | 18 |
| 12 | 1 | James Buescher | Miccosukee Indian Gaming & Resort Chevy | 29.93 | 180.421 | 36 |
| 13 | 27 | Jason Keller | Scott Ford | 29.943 | 180.343 | 26 |
| 14 | 15 | Michael Annett | Germain.com Toyota | 29.973 | 180.162 | 36 |
| 15 | 96 | Michael McDowell | my123backup.com Dodge | 30.011 | 179.934 | 10 |
| 16 | 38 | Jason Leffler | Great Clips Toyota | 30.014 | 179.916 | 17 |
| 17 | 10 | Kasey Kahne | Great Clips Toyota | 30.02 | 179.880 | 17 |
| 18 | 88 | Brad Keselowski | Degree Chevy | 30.025 | 179.850 | 21 |
| 19 | 9 | John Wes Townley | Zaxby's Ford | 30.041 | 179.754 | 5 |
| 20 | 20 | Joey Logano | GameStop/WWE SmackDown vs Raw | 30.077 | 179.539 | 24 |
| 21 | 70 | Shelby Howard | ForeTravel Motorcoach/WCF Chevy | 30.194 | 178.843 | 19 |
| 22 | 62 | Brendan Gaughan | Loan Star Title Loans Chevy | 30.246 | 178.536 | 37 |
| 23 | 40 | Scott Wimmer | StopRepairBills.com Chevy | 30.275 | 178.365 | 15 |
| 24 | 2 | Andy Ponstein | CorrieStottRacing.com Chevy | 30.285 | 178.306 | 5 |
| 25 | 66 | Steve Wallace | 5-hour Energy Chevy | 30.334 | 178.018 | 27 |
| 26 | 58 | Josh Wise | Cavi Clothing Chevy | 30.356 | 177.889 | 11 |
| 27 | 7 | Danny O'Quinn Jr. | Dynamic Technology Chevy | 30.362 | 177.854 | 10 |
| 28 | 0 | Jeremy Clements | Saxon Group Chevy | 30.403 | 177.614 | 17 |
| 29 | 89 | Morgan Shepherd | Lagina Plumbing/Eldora Speedway Chevy | 30.457 | 177.299 | 8 |
| 30 | 92 | Dennis Setzer | K-Automotive Motorsports Dodge | 30.476 | 177.189 | 2 |
| 31 | 34 | Tony Raines | Long John Silver's Chevy | 30.49 | 177.107 | 29 |
| 32 | 23 | Robert Richardson Jr. | Mahindra Chevy | 30.527 | 176.893 | 17 |
| 33 | 5 | Mark Day | 31-W Insulation/CertainTeed Chevy | 30.591 | 176.523 | 19 |
| 34 | 83 | John Borneman III | Twisted X Boots Ford | 30.594 | 176.505 | 6 |
| 35 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | NEMCO Motorsports Chevy | 30.603 | 176.453 | 2 |
| 36 | 85 | Casey Atwood | 31-W Insulation/CertainTeed Chevy | 30.864 | 174.961 | 12 |
| 37 | 28 | Kenny Wallace | U.S. Border Patrol Chevy | 30.867 | 174.944 | 16 |
| 38 | 26 | Kevin Conway | Extenze Chevy | 30.911 | 174.695 | 22 |
| 39 | 81 | Bobby Hillin Jr. | T-Rex Companies Dodge | 31.232 | 172.900 | 8 |
| 40 | 84 | Mike Harmon | Shawn Gibson Logging/Texas Hippie Coalition | 31.274 | 172.667 | 4 |
| 41 | 24 | Eric McClure | Hefty Steel Sak Ford | 31.569 | 171.054 | 16 |
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