Denny Hamlin was sidelined last week with what was initially deemed a sinus infection. Later it was revealed that the driver of the No. 11 Toyota Camry had a piece of metal in his eye which was impairing his vision.
Nothing impaired the 33-year-old on Friday afternoon in the first practice session for Sunday’s running of the STP 500. Hamlin set the fastest lap of the the session.
Last year it was Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon who found victory lane for their eighth career wins at the shortest track on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series circuit.
Sprint Cup Full Practice Speeds from Session 1 at Martinsville
| RaceRank | No | Driver | BestLapTime | BestSpeed | BestLap | Laps |
| 1 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | 18.932 | 100.021 | 29 | 30 |
| 2 | 22 | Joey Logano | 19.067 | 99.3129 | 38 | 42 |
| 3 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | 19.094 | 99.1725 | 36 | 36 |
| 4 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | 19.099 | 99.1466 | 35 | 39 |
| 5 | 14 | Tony Stewart | 19.103 | 99.1258 | 52 | 53 |
| 6 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | 19.108 | 99.0999 | 57 | 57 |
| 7 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | 19.131 | 98.9807 | 35 | 46 |
| 8 | 18 | Kyle Busch | 19.146 | 98.9032 | 36 | 40 |
| 9 | 27 | Paul Menard | 19.169 | 98.7845 | 62 | 67 |
| 10 | 55 | Brian Vickers | 19.188 | 98.6867 | 33 | 43 |
| 11 | 31 | Ryan Newman | 19.191 | 98.6713 | 40 | 45 |
| 12 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | 19.202 | 98.6147 | 29 | 32 |
| 13 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | 19.205 | 98.5993 | 47 | 52 |
| 14 | 13 | Casey Mears | 19.209 | 98.5788 | 34 | 34 |
| 15 | 99 | Carl Edwards | 19.244 | 98.3995 | 6 | 34 |
| 16 | 41 | Kurt Busch | 19.249 | 98.3739 | 33 | 40 |
| 17 | 51 | Justin Allgaier # | 19.258 | 98.328 | 43 | 44 |
| 18 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | 19.26 | 98.3178 | 36 | 38 |
| 19 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | 19.28 | 98.2158 | 34 | 34 |
| 20 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 19.289 | 98.1699 | 46 | 49 |
| 21 | 43 | Aric Almirola | 19.294 | 98.1445 | 38 | 39 |
| 22 | 16 | Greg Biffle | 19.301 | 98.1089 | 37 | 38 |
| 23 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | 19.318 | 98.0226 | 67 | 67 |
| 24 | 42 | Kyle Larson # | 19.33 | 97.9617 | 47 | 51 |
| 25 | 35 | David Reutimann | 19.342 | 97.9009 | 18 | 22 |
| 26 | 38 | David Gilliland | 19.347 | 97.8756 | 28 | 29 |
| 27 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | 19.348 | 97.8706 | 42 | 43 |
| 28 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | 19.352 | 97.8504 | 36 | 38 |
| 29 | 10 | Danica Patrick | 19.355 | 97.8352 | 44 | 44 |
| 30 | 95 | Michael McDowell | 19.384 | 97.6888 | 18 | 23 |
| 31 | 34 | David Ragan | 19.387 | 97.6737 | 41 | 42 |
| 32 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 19.397 | 97.6233 | 38 | 38 |
| 33 | 33 | David Stremme | 19.408 | 97.568 | 32 | 32 |
| 34 | 3 | Austin Dillon # | 19.416 | 97.5278 | 55 | 59 |
| 35 | 40 | Landon Cassill(i) | 19.418 | 97.5178 | 24 | 24 |
| 36 | 98 | Josh Wise | 19.483 | 97.1924 | 4 | 16 |
| 37 | 83 | Ryan Truex # | 19.518 | 97.0181 | 37 | 37 |
| 38 | 32 | Travis Kvapil | 19.528 | 96.9685 | 29 | 29 |
| 39 | 36 | Reed Sorenson | 19.559 | 96.8148 | 33 | 33 |
| 40 | 23 | Alex Bowman # | 19.58 | 96.7109 | 55 | 56 |
| 41 | 26 | Cole Whitt # | 19.657 | 96.3321 | 39 | 40 |
| 42 | 30 | Parker Kligerman # | 19.677 | 96.2342 | 46 | 49 |
| 43 | 66 | Joe Nemechek(i) | 19.733 | 95.9611 | 26 | 27 |
| 44 | 7 | Michael Annett # | 19.978 | 94.7843 | 8 | 38 |
# – denotes rookie
(i) – ineligible for driver points
