In Friday afternoon's final Happy Hour round of practice at the 2.45-mile New York track, the fastest single lap belonged to AJ Allmendinger, who ran 127.551 miles per hour in his No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet.
Allmendinger, who won this race in 2014, needs to win on Sunday to have any chance of making the Chase.
"That was a pretty good Q (qualifying) lap I ran right there," said Allmendinger. "It's going to be a strange race … strategy is always important in this race."
Second-fast on the newly repaved track was the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing of Martin Truex Jr., who was fastest in the first session earlier in the day. Truex's best lap was 127.481 mph.
"The guys did a good job getting the car prepared and coming up with some new things and some new ideas and it felt really good today," said Truex, who signed a new contract to remain with the team through 2018. "The track is definitely a lot more challenging with the new pavement. It's really, really fast."
Surprisingly, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was third in his Roush Fenway Racing Ford. He was followed by the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas of Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth.
Jeff Gordon, who continues to substitute for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, finished ninth in the session,
The next time the Sprint Cars take the track will be for qualifying, which takes place at 12:15 p.m. on Saturday.
Check out Friday's Happy Hour practice results below:
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