Two practice sessions were held in preparation for the race; both on Friday, September 14, 2012. The first session and second session lasted for 90 minutes each.[8] During the first practice session, Truex Jr., for the Michael Waltrip Racing team, was quickest ahead of Earnhardt Jr. in second and Keselowski in third.[9]Trevor Bayne was scored fourth, and Hamlin managed fifth.[9]Jamie McMurray, Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, Carl Edwards and Ryan Newman rounded out the top ten quickest drivers in the session.[9]
Kyle Busch was quickest in the second and final practice session, ahead of Aric Almirola in second, and Martin in third.[10] Edwards was fourth quickest, and Hamlin took fifth.[10] Kahne, Johnson, Bayne, Kenseth, and Gordon followed in the top ten.[10] Of the other drivers in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, Stewart was scored fourteenth fastest, while Truex Jr. was scored twenty-fifth.[10]
Forty-seven cars were entered for qualifying, but only forty-three could race because of NASCAR's qualifying procedure.[11] Johnson clinched his second pole position in the season, with a time of 29.530.[12] He was joined on the front row of the grid by Almirola.[12] Kenseth qualified third, Earnhardt Jr. took fourth, and Edwards started fifth.[12] Biffle, one of the drivers in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, qualified twenty-second, while Harvick was scored thirty-fifth.[12] The three drivers that failed to qualify for the race were Scott Riggs, Reed Sorenson, J. J. Yeley, and Jason Leffler.[12]
^Brown, Brian (September 11, 2012). "The GEICO 400". RotoWorld.com. NBC Sports. Archived from the original on September 12, 2012. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
.jpg)
