DFS NASCAR: Coca-Cola 600 Practice Notes

Final Practice Notes

Coca-Cola 600

Charlotte Motor Speedway

Saturday, May 26th 11:05 a.m. ET

50 minutes in length

Weather

75 degrees Air temp I 84 degrees Track temp I Sunny skies

Penalized Drivers

Kevin Harvick (30 minutes at the end of practice)

J.J. Yeley (30 minutes at the end of practice)

Aric Almirola (15 minutes at the end of practice)

Kasey Kahne (15 minutes at the end of practice)

Parker Kligerman (15 minutes at the end of practice)

Top-20 Speeds (one lap)

Best 10-lap Averages

Items of Note:

• The first practice on Saturday was cancelled due to a wet track so this will be the only session in race trim for most drivers
• The temps are close to the start of the race tomorrow night but temps will drop during the night race
• Kevin Harvick will start P39 because he didn't make it through inspection before qualifying and served a 30 minute penalty because of it and so it will be just 20 minutes on track for the 4-car
• Ryan Blaney is running the Kansas setup in his car this week to start and he ran well at Kansas before crashing out mid-way through.
• Chevys were complaining of lack of downforce and some have had trouble rotating through the corners and so big setup changes may be needed to help them out.
• Michael Mcdowell and Kyle Busch got into it a bit with 45 minutes to go as Busch nearly ran McDowell into the wall.
• Several drivers have been running in the traction compound in Turns 3 & 4 with 40 minutes left in practice as they try and see how the car reacts while running in the groove and compound
• William Byron can’t get enough throttle without getting loose with about 32 minutes left in the session. He also can’t get front grip in the center of the corners.
• With 27 minutes left in practice Daniel Suarez was drafting behind Denny Hamlin and then flew past him down the front stretch.
• Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has a number of issues with 21 minutes left as he’s free off the corner, tight in the corner, and has no rear grip. Big adjustments is what he wants at this point.
• There are four stages in this race instead of the normal three. They are 100 laps each.
• Kyle Larson has a car that gets tight after several laps on the track so they brought it back to the garage to loosen it a bit.
• With 15 minutes left in the session, Kurt Busch went out for a 20-lap run on sticker tires to see what they have in long-run speed.
• With 8 minutes left in practice Erik Jones, Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr., and Kevin Harvick make up the top-four in the 15-lap average.
• Austin Dillon is working on passing in the middle groove with seven minutes left in the session. Several other drivers are working on using different grooves around the track over their longer runs.
• The traction compound reacts to sunlight and heat and so it’s questionable as to how it will react during the night race on Sunday night.
• Erik Jones leads every category in this practice, single lap, 5-lap average, 10-lap average, and 15-lap average. He only ran 19 consecutive laps but had he run one more lap, he’d have led best 20-lap average too.
• Joey Logano, Erik Jones, Kyle Larson, Austin Dillon, and Kurt Busch have run the most laps in practice, all more than 45 with Jones and Logano over 50.

Opening Practice Notes

Coca-Cola 600

Charlotte Motor Speedway

Thursday, May 24th 2:35 pm ET

50 minutes in length

Weather

Air Temp 75 I Track Temp 97 I Overcast skies

Penalized Drivers

All serving 15 minutes at the end of practice:

Kevin Harvick

Jimmie Johnson

Kasey Kahne

Austin Dillon

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Daniel Suarez

Matt DiBenedetto

David Ragan

A.J. Allmendinger

Top-20 Speeds (one lap)

Best 10-lap Averages

No drivers ran 10-consecutive laps in this practice session

Items of Note:

• A traction compound has been laid down on the track for this practice and will be laid down for the race as well in the corners in the second groove up to the wall.
• Chevy and Ford engines are expected to have a 100 lap mileage count in practices this week and Toyotas a bit further at 125
• The first few cars on the track are continuing to run on the bottom of the track until the traction compound warms up and gains grip
• It’s important to note that the package this week is a standard aero package for a 1.5-mile track and not the same one as the All-Star race was last week
• Most drivers are running in qualifying trim this session since qualifying is on Thursday night
• There is no restrictor plate this week, there’s no huge spoiler, there’s no brake duct in the grill this week either
• There is additional rubber on the track to start the practice because ARCA series cars were on the track before the Cup cars and the rubber on the ARCA cars is different than the Goodyears on the Cup cars.
• William Byron went out in race trim to make sure their ride heights on the car were close to were they wanted them and now he will switch to qualifying trim.
• The early speeds in the session were in the 188 mph range which suggests a qualifying run of 194-195 mph because when the sun goes down the speeds go up at Charlotte with how the aero works.
• Jimmie Johnson has been passed for the final lead change in each of the last 600s
• Kasey Kahne made four runs and his team made adjustments after each and Kahne liked the car by the end of practice.
• The last two times the Coca-Cola 600 was held on May 27th, a Hendrick car has won the race
• Austin Dillon won the race last year for his first career win in MENCS
• Late in practice Denny Hamlin ran the only 190-mph lap of the session.
• Erik Jones said he was happy with speed in his car but the ride height wasn’t great as the car felt like it was on the splitter for much of practice.