DFS NASCAR: Gander Outdoors 400 Practice Notes

Final Practice Gander Outdoors 400

Pocono Raceway

Saturday, July 28 11:40 am ET

50 minutes in length

Weather

73 degrees I Light breeze of 7 mph I Partly cloudy I 77% humidity

Penalized Drivers

No drivers served penalties in this session

Top-20 Speeds (one lap)

Best 10-lap Averages

Items of Note:

• Martin Truex Jr. had some trouble getting into all three corners in the first practice which hampered his speeds. He is trying to work on stability into the corners and balance to find the speed he needs.
• Joey Logano is going through the inspection line before getting on the track at this practice. Inspection is only mandatory after qualifying but they are trying to make sure the car passes inspection to not disallow the qualifying time.
• Kevin Harvick is the first driver on the track this session as they continue to see how their long run speed is on this track
• Early in the session, Harvick is .9 seconds better than the rest of the field which is a massive difference even on a 2.5-mile track
• Jeff Burton is on top of Turn 1 in this practice and can tell a difference in the lines taken into and out of the turn even six minutes into the session with some cars painting the yellow line and others being in the second groove or straddling the first and second groove.
• Kyle Larson is in the middle of a long run with 37 minutes left in the session and is showing good grip through the Tunnel Turn
• Jimmie Johnson had a good showing in New Hampshire and gained points in both stages which is an improvement for him
• Before practice started Bubba Wallace signed a multi-year extension to stay at Richard Petty Motorsports which should make him feel more comfortable in the car
• Chase Elliott is still trying to make gains with the speed in the car this week and is kind of in the middle of the pack this session with 35 minutes left
• Joey Logano is now on the track with 34 minutes left in the session after taking 14 minutes to get through inspection but in qualifying trim he ran the fastest lap of the session in his first lap on the track.
• Austin Dillon made a two-lap run so he’s in Q trim with 33 minutes left in practice as they are trying to find speed still.
• Brad Keselowski is also in qualifying trim but is still .5 seconds slower than Logano and Harvick.
• Jamie McMurray has looked good this session with him jumping up to sixth on the speed chart with 18 minutes left in practice. He arcs the Tunnel Turn like Hamlin does as the best in the field but he was a bit free getting into Turn 1 on one of his laps.
• Chase Elliott is running behind Jamie McMurray to gather info on whether he gets loose or tight in traffic. He made a pass after a couple of laps and gained grip in the tires from making the pass.
• Martin Truex Jr. jumped to third in speed with 3 minutes left in practice in similar conditions to what the race will be in tomorrow.
• Kyle Larson spun out of Turn 1 with less than a minute in practice while in Q trim. It was a late downshift and the left front is flat. There is very little damage to the car as he barely touched the inside wall with the left front.

Opening Practice for Gander Outdoor 400

Pocono Raceway

Saturday, July 28th 9:00 am ET

50 minutes in length

Weather

69 degrees Air Temp I Light breeze of 6 mph I Sunny skies

Penalized Drivers

No drivers were penalized during this session

Top-20 Speeds (one lap)

Best 10-lap Averages

Items of Note:

• Jimmie Johnson got loose in Turn 1 as he was trying to get back on the throttle with 42 minutes left in the session. His best finish in the last five races at Pocono was his 8th place mark in June’s race before that it was 16th.
• The Tunnel Turn (Turn 2) is the only turn on the track that downshifting isn’t necessary in order to make it through. Turn 1 is the toughest to negotiate after going 200 mph down the front stretch and then 140 through Turn 1 down on the bottom.
• J.J. Yeley spun out in Turn 2 but didn’t hit anything after bottoming out over the bumps in the middle of the corner.
• Clint Bowyer was one of the first drivers on the track and laid down the second best lap but since then he’s been in the garage getting adjustments made and trying to sort out a vibration.
• Denny Hamlin has been the best driver through the Tunnel Turn so far in practice with a later apex in the corner because of a wider entrance and that allows him to hit the throttle sooner than others.
• Kevin Harvick has been downshifting very early into Turn 3 but the danger in that is over-revving the engine however Dale Jr. said that he downshifted earlier and let the engine braking slow the car through the corner.
• Kyle Larson has been the best Chevy at competing for wins week-in-and-week-out this season with four second place finishes. The jack cutouts on the 42-car are about three times larger than usual in length and they believe it will help with aerodynamics.
• Brad Keselowski made one lap and took it back to the garage because he has some sort of electrical issue in the car that caused him to lose power three times in the one lap. They appear to be putting in a new panel on the dash to try and solve the issue. It took half the practice to get back on the track and he’s now turning laps with 17 minutes left in the session.
• When the cars go out for qualifying this evening they will impound the cars until the race so they will be in race trim the whole weekend.
• Alex Bowman feels like his car is okay on exit until there are bumps in the turns and then it gets bad. Turn 2 bumps make the car loose on exit and so he’s headed to the garage to make adjustments to the rear of the car to tighten it up with 12 minutes left in the session.
• Aric Almirola had his first top-five of the season last week at New Hampshire. This week he feels the car gets better over the course of the run. He wants the car to turn better through the Tunnel Turn and in the apex of Turn 3 but overall he feels pretty good about his car.
• Erik Jones has been making adjustments to the car all practice long as they try and deal with tightness in the turns, especially in Turn 3.
• Dale Jr, says that Turn 2 is the driver turn on the track while Turn 1 and 3 are the car turns meaning that the car will dictate more about what happens through the corner.