NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
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CUP: Martin Leads 200 MPH Club
Mark Martin hit 201.376 miles per hour in the opening practice today...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted June 15, 2012   Brooklyn, MI
Mark Martin paced the field in the first practice session for the Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Mark Martin led the first of two rounds of practice Friday afternoon for the Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

On Thursday, nine cars broke the 200 mile per hour barrier, and this time 10 cars hit the magic mark, as speeds were remarkably fast despite warmer temperatures.

The top speed of the session belonged to the venerable Martin, who has been on rails all weekend. The ageless one paced the field when he hit 201.376 miles per hour in his No. 55 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota.

Second-fast was the Batman-themed No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet of Dale Earnhardt Jr., which cranked off a lap of 201.061 miles per hour. MIS, of course, was the site of Earnhardt’s last points race victory, which came four years ago this weekend at this track.

Trevor Bayne, the 2011 Daytona 500 winner, ran 200.770 mph in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford, good enough for third place in the session.

Fourth was three-time and defending NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart. His best lap in the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet was 200.736 mph.

Also in the 200 mph club were Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Paul Menard and Martin Truex Jr.

Most of the teams used the session to scuff tires in, running a set of Goodyears for a couple of laps — one heat cycle — before replacing them. Tires that went through a single heat cycle weren’t blistering, but sticker tires were blistering, so teams were scuffing as many sets as they could for Sunday’s race. Jeff Gordon scuffed in seven sets of tires, all for race day on Sunday.

The final Happy Hour round of practice goes from 3:30-4:50 p.m. ET and will be televised live on SPEED today. Qualifying is Saturday at 1:10 p.m.

#nascar @speed @mispeedway

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100.
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