Stewart wins Texas Sat. a.m. practice

Tony Stewart posted the quickest average speed in the Saturday morning practice with a speed of 182.866 mph during 16 laps.

Our View He was actually second on the grid, but Joe Nemechek posted on four laps so he did not have any fall-off.

Stewart's fastest lap in this practice was second best and he qualified at the front of the field, so he has to be favored for a top-five in the Dickies 500.

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Official tweets from the track

Nemechek fastest in Richmond practice 1

Joe Nemechek posted the fastest single lap of practice in the morning session, with a lap of 122.867 mph.

Our View As one of the "go-or-go-home" drivers, he only turned 12 laps, but as a start and parker, this is pretty much the only thing on his agenda.

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Crown Royal Russ Friedman 400 newsbreakers

Nemechek blows in Glen practice 1

Joe Nemechek blew an engine at the eight minute mark of the first practice session and will have to swap powerplants before qualification.

Our View This is a serious blow to his chances for making the show. Three cars will go home this afternoon after qualification is complete.

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Red Bull buys Speed a ride

As expected, Red Bull Racing has struck a deal with Joe Nemechek to get Scott Speed into the show, according to a tweet from @DustinLong.

Our View: Normally, we approach these agreements with skepticism, but at least Speed will try to run the full event and not "start and park" as Nemechek has done in recent weeks. Before failing to qualify, Speed was on a top 10 pace, so he could be a decent value.

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To the back at Michigan

Three cars will drop to the back before the start of the LifeLock 400. The No. 87 of Joe Nemechek, No. 77 of Sam Hornish Jr. and No. 24 of Jeff Gordon all changed engines, according to a tweet from @NASCARSays, NASCAR's official feed.

Our View: Gordon says he has a car fast enough to get to the front. Penske Racing South is also stout, so Hornish should be ok as well.

Pocono "go-or-go-homers"

This week's entry list features 46 cars. In the event that qualification is canceled, the following drivers would make the show: Sterling Marlin, Scott Speed, David Gilliland, Joe Nemechek, Patrick Carpentier, Dave Blaney, Mike Wallace and Regan Smith.

Our View: That means Trevor Boys, Dexter Bean and Derrike Cope would be going home—and those are also the drivers most likely to be the slowest on speed as well.

Speed to replace Nemechek

Scott Speed will replace Joe Nemechek in the No. 87 car, which will allow him to start the Southern 500 after failing to qualify on Friday, according to a Tweet from Dustin Long.

Our View: Part of Nemechek's stable of cars are some on Red Bull Racing Toyotas, so Speed should be right at home.

Diamond Hill Plywood 200 Results

Kyle Busch dominated the Diamond Hill Plywood 200, but he was denied the victory in the closing laps because of a cut tire from debris from a Scott Lagasse Jr. / Joe Nemechek crash late in the event. The accident occurred with two laps remaining.

Matt Kenseth was chasing him down at the time, however, and they would have had a heck of a battle.

Finish	Start	Driver	Laps	Laps Led	Status
1	6	Matt Kenseth	153	4	Running
2	7	Jason Leffler	153		Running
3	3	Carl Edwards	153	5	Running
4	5	Erik Darnell	153		Running
5	16	Justin Allgaier	153		Running
6	2	Ryan Newman	153		Running
7	19	Mike Bliss	153		Running
8	9	Jeff Burton	153		Running
9	31	Scott Wimmer	153		Running
10	10	Brian Vickers	153		Running
11	8	Brad Keselowski	153		Running
12	4	Joey Logano	153		Running
13	24	Scott Speed	153		Running
14	14	Steve Wallace	153		Running
15	11	Jason Keller	153		Running
16	1	Kyle Busch	153	143	Running
17	23	Patrick Carpentier	153		Running
18	17	Kenny Wallace	153		Running
19	15	Brendan Gaughan	152		Running
20	21	Brian Scott	152		Running
21	18	Tony Raines	152	1	Running
22	13	Scott Lagasse Jr	152		Running
23	32	Jeff Green	151		Running
24	29	Brian Keselowski	151		Running
25	30	Brandon Whitt	150		Running
26	25	Kevin Hamlin	150		Running
27	28	Danny O'Quinn Jr	150		Running
28	27	Eric McClure	149		Running
29	20	Michael Annett	149		Running
30	26	Jeff Fuller	148		Running
31	33	Morgan Shepherd	148		Running
32	22	Joe Nemechek	142		Accident
33	12	Michael McDowell	140		Running
34	35	John Wes Townley	117		Throttle
35	37	Kevin Lepage	57		Accident
36	36	Kenny Hendrick	54		Accident
37	43	Mike Harmon	36		Brakes
38	38	Travis Kittleson	19		Overheating
39	40	Mark Green	17		Quit
40	39	Kertus Davis	15		Quit
41	41	Terry Cook	13		Quit
42	42	Johnny Chapman	12		Quit
43	34	Casey Atwood	11		Transmission

Truex wins Richmond practice 1

Martin Truex Jr. posted the single fastest lap in the first practice session at Richmond for the Crown Royal 400 at 123.046 mph.

Our View: His average speed was not bad either, with an average of 119.407 mph during 39 laps. He should be watched closely in Happy Hour and could be a solid dark horse. The only two drivers who beat his mark in terms of average speed were "go-or-go-homers" Joe Nemechek (120.196 during 12 laps) and Dave Blaney (119.595 during 17 laps), but they were not working on race trim.