Happy Hour Practice at TicketGuardian 500

ISM Raceway

Saturday, March 9 2:05 pm ET

50 minutes in length

Weather

Air Temp – 64 degrees I Track Temp – 94 degrees I Slight breeze at 5 mph NE

Penalized Drivers

The following drivers are serving 15-minute penalties at the end of practice for inspection violations:

Brad Keselowski

Paul Menard

William Byron

Corey LaJoie

Michael McDowell

David Ragan

Cody Ware

Bayley Currey

Top-20 Speeds (single lap)

      Last BestBestBest
PosCarDriverMakeDeltaLapsLapTimeSpeedLap
122Joey LoganoFord--49132.3426.13137.796
212Ryan BlaneyFord0.10952133.526.24137.225
34Kevin HarvickFord0.21251133.7926.34136.6928
418Kyle BuschToyota0.26158132.6126.39136.437
510Aric AlmirolaFord0.28247133.7526.41136.3215
62Brad KeselowskiFord0.29530135.3826.42136.269
748Jimmie JohnsonChevy0.30554132.3126.43136.24
81Kurt BuschChevy0.31556133.7826.44136.1510
93Austin DillonChevy0.32654133.3926.45136.18
1014Clint BowyerFord0.33240133.8226.46136.076
1111Denny HamlinToyota0.3659133.8726.49135.9218
129Chase ElliottChevy0.36350132.8226.49135.914
1388Alex BowmanChevy0.37137134.6226.5135.869
1424William ByronChevy0.37235133.2626.5135.868
1520Erik JonesToyota0.38842134.9826.51135.787
1621Paul MenardFord0.39244133.6826.52135.765
1719Martin Truex Jr.Toyota0.39543134.526.52135.746
1841Daniel SuarezFord0.39948133.3426.53135.7215
1917Ricky Stenhouse Jr.Ford0.43948133.326.57135.528
206Ryan NewmanFord0.44345133.2626.57135.530

Best Lap Averages

PosCarDriverFrom LapTo LapAvg Speed
122Joey Logano2029136.137
24Kevin Harvick2635136.009
310Aric Almirola918135.971
412Ryan Blaney110135.962
52Brad Keselowski514135.76
618Kyle Busch3342135.627
714Clint Bowyer514135.551
81Kurt Busch918135.545
948Jimmie Johnson312135.48
1088Alex Bowman514135.407
113Austin Dillon211135.398
1224William Byron413135.389
1320Erik Jones918135.365
1411Denny Hamlin2736135.302
159Chase Elliott211135.283
1641Daniel Suarez817135.259
1721Paul Menard514135.219
1817Ricky Stenhouse Jr.211135.094
196Ryan Newman514134.98
2019Martin Truex Jr.3342134.885
2137Chris Buescher2332134.572
228Daniel Hemric #514134.561
2313Ty Dillon2736134.196
2436Matt Tifft #2534134.012
2543Bubba Wallace211133.892
2695Matt DiBenedetto3544133.857
2734Michael McDowell110133.737
2832Corey LaJoie110133.731
2938David Ragan1524132.332
300Landon Cassill110130.811

Items of Note:

  • The practice time is at about race time and race temp
  • Kevin Harvick is happy with the car but would like a touch more speed in this session
  • Austin Dillon is starting the session on scuffed tires and trying to find a bit more balance over the long run
  • It started off as a very racy practice as the drivers try to see how the cars work in traffic this week
  • With 21 minutes elapsed in the session there was a caution on the track for fluid on the racing surface
  • There was a 12-minute red flag to clean up the fluid on the track and the practice session won’t be extended meaning the penalized teams lose that track time.
  • Nine of the last 19 winners at Phoenix have snapped 44+-race winless streaks
  • With 23 minutes left in the session the four Hendrick cars are P7, P12, P13, P14 in single lap speeds
  • Brad Keselowski just before getting off the track for practice was P6 in single lap and P2 in 15-lap average
  • William Byron says he thinks they made improvements in this practice but it isn’t all the way to where it needs to be though
  • Paul Menard ran the most laps of the session before being pulled of the track for the penalty and he said they did two long runs both on stickers and were looking for consistency in the car. He was fourth best in the 20-lap average
  • Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch are very similar on the long run with Blaney having better speed earlier in the run and Kyle having better speed later in the run
  • Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch were racing each other for the last several minutes of the session though Larson had fewer laps on the tires.
  • Austin Dillon felt good about his car on his last run until team owner Richard Childress got on the radio and said what needed to change
  • Kevin Harvick said a lot of his braking spots are different now with the power and downforce in the cars so they’ve had to go back 2014 notes rather than from last year but he feels confident in the car he’s got.
  • Joey Logano was the only driver to make a run of 30 or more laps in the Happy Hour practice
  • Martin Truex Jr. wasn’t as strong in this session as the morning session. It’s almost like his car had trouble with the warmer temps.
  • Jimmie Johnson feels that his car is starting to get there and he’s starting to find his rhythm in race weekend after dealing with a cold for most of the week.
  • Denny Hamlin finished both Saturday practices 11th but he’s got an issue with balance in the car and balancing long-run speed versus restart speed and he thinks track position will be key on Sunday.
  • Daniel Suarez finished Happy Hour at P18 in single-lap speed and P16 in 10-lap average. His car he says is okay and they have better long-run speed than short run speed but they are still working on trying to find a bit more speed in the car.

Through Final Practice

This table is a new addition to the practice notes this season and hopefully it will help breakdown exactly where each driver fits in the practice speed listings. The drivers are in order of DK salaries and the columns mean the following: Prac to Qual is the difference between the Comb. Prac column and the Qualifying spot they have for the race. A positive number indicates they ran faster at average practice speed than where the qualified and should help show who has position differential upside and who may not. The Qual column is simply listing their qualifying spot for the race. The Comb. Prac column is an average of all of that driver's single lap speeds from practice. For example say Driver A registers 195 mph, 196 mph, 197 mph, and 198 mph in the four practices for a race, their Combination Practice speed would be 196.5 and then that speed is ranked amongst the other drivers to get the number you see in the column 1 is fastest and 40 is slowest. The others rank where that driver placed for that session and that session's 10-lap average where again 1 is fastest and 40 is slowest.

 Qualifying and Practice
DriverPrac to QualQualComb. PracPrac 3 10-lapPrac 3Prac 2 10-lapPrac 2Prac 1
Kevin Harvick385232615
Kyle Busch14364155
Brad Keselowski35256632
Martin Truex Jr-391220179169
Joey Logano81241123712
Kyle Larson25316 21343
Aric Almirola-4141835121524
Chase Elliott-628151217184
Denny Hamlin-13316141181119
Kurt Busch116158841022
Erik Jones-11011131515128
Clint Bowyer122614710101918
Ryan Blaney01142721
 Qualifying and Practice
DriverPrac to QualQualComb. PracPrac 3 10-lapPrac 3Prac 2 10-lapPrac 2Prac 1
Jimmie Johnson81579711136
Austin Dillon0131311914817
Daniel Suarez1128171618212216
Ricky Stenhouse Jr-219211819161420
Alex Bowman-461010131397
Ryan Newman-118191920192113
William Byron-157221214182411
Daniel Hemric-1311242223222323
Paul Menard-317201716202021
Chris Buescher1322921225114
Ryan Preece-72128 28 3126
 Qualifying and Practice
DriverPrac to QualQualComb. PracPrac 3 10-lapPrac 3Prac 2 10-lapPrac 2Prac 1
Matt DiBenedetto225232627 1710
Bubba Wallace-223252526 2627
Ty Dillon-920292324273028
Ross Chastain03333 32 3333
David Ragan-229312931262830
Michael McDowell127262725242925
Matt Tifft330272429252529
Corey LaJoie-624302830 2731
Landon Cassill032323033283232
Quin Houff-13536 34 3636
Cody Ware03434  293535

Second Practice for TicketGuardian 500

ISM Raceway

Saturday, March 9 11:35 am ET

50 minutes in length

Weather

Air Temp – 53 degrees I Track Temp – 69 degrees I Slight breeze of 5 MPH

Penalized Drivers

No drivers served a penalty in this session

Top-20 Speeds (single lap)

      Last BestBestBest
PosCarDriverMakeDeltaLapsLapTimeSpeedLap
137Chris BuescherChevy--28134.3426.09137.972
212Ryan BlaneyFord0.0140136.9826.1137.9225
32Brad KeselowskiFord0.0628134.426.15137.653
442Kyle LarsonChevy0.0742132.7326.16137.629
518Kyle BuschToyota0.0741135.9326.16137.5911
64Kevin HarvickFord0.0742135.6626.17137.595
722Joey LoganoFord0.1138135.1326.2137.423
83Austin DillonChevy0.1139134.8526.2137.394
988Alex BowmanChevy0.1235133.9926.21137.3423
101Kurt BuschChevy0.1346135.3726.22137.2818
1111Denny HamlinToyota0.1545136.2226.25137.1615
1220Erik JonesToyota0.1831135.3826.27137.058
1348Jimmie JohnsonChevy0.1841136.1726.27137.027
1417Ricky Stenhouse Jr.Ford0.1939133.2926.28136.985
1510Aric AlmirolaFord0.2135135.526.3136.878
1619Martin Truex Jr.Toyota0.2145134.2426.31136.8538
1795Matt DiBenedettoToyota0.2327133.9726.32136.778
189Chase ElliottChevy0.2344135.8826.33136.7514
1914Clint BowyerFord0.2438136.226.33136.745
2021Paul MenardFord0.2546134.1426.34136.6730

Best Lap Averages

Items of Note:

  • Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is really emphasizing pit road speed checks in this session because they had issues at Daytona and Atlanta with speeding and were borderline last week at Vegas
  • Early in practice Chris Buescher went out and ran the fastest single-lap speed and for the first 10 minutes it held up.
  • Brad Keselowski has never won at Phoenix, one of seven tracks that he’s not won at in Cup, and he is pushing for that win on Sunday. They are working on scuffed tires this session and pit road speed.
  • Kyle Busch is in the middle of a long-run with 36 minutes left in the session and his fastest lap came in lap 11 of the run. He has the best 15-lap average at this point.
  • Martin Truex Jr. was on a 20-lap run and his fastest lap came in lap 17 of that run as the new right-side tires are holding on for quite a long time this week
  • There were 10 pit road speeding penalties in last Fall’s race so a lot of drivers are dialing in the speed lights on their dash in this session to try and avoid those penalties.
  • Austin Dillon came on a pit road mock run and said he had four red lights on his dash, which is impossible, so he had to go to the garage to retune the dash lights to make them show correctly.
  • Jimmie Johnson went on a 15-lap run and had a laundry list of things that he felt wrong with the car, but most were slight adjustments.
  • Goodyear has warned teams multiple times this week to not go very far below the minimum air pressures because of the loads in the corners with the higher speeds so blown tires could be an issue on Sunday.
  • The green flag runs at Phoenix are generally 75-80 laps in terms of fuel windows so the long runs in practice are important to get a feel for fall off and air pressures and handling.
  • With 10 minutes left in the session, Chris Buescher still has the fastest lap of the session.
  • Daniel Hemric is having some trouble putting together speed in the long runs and in the short runs he’s 23rd on the speed charts.
  • Chris Buescher said he’s got good long run speed too but needs it to last a bit longer since it starts to fall off after the 10-lap average. This hasn’t been a great track for him but he feels good about the car they brought this week.
  • Clint Bowyer is still searching for what he needs in his car as he feels like it’s loose in and tight in the middle and loose out. It hasn’t traditionally been a good track for Bowyer so far in his career.
  • Matt DiBenedetto said he also had his qualifying lap obstructed on Friday but that is the nature of group qualifying when everyone waits for the last couple minutes of the clock to make their run.
  • Martin Truex Jr. has run the longest run of the session at 24-consecutive laps and his 22nd lap was .2 seconds faster than his fifth lap.
  • Kevin Harvick didn’t make any really long runs this session but has a very solid car on the long and short runs
  • Kyle Larson was fighting a tight car on the first run but it kept getting tighter on each progressive run, but that’s typical for Phoenix. He wants to work on the long-run balance in the final session.

Opening Practice for TicketGuardian 500

ISM Raceway

Friday March 8 1:30 PM ET

50 Minutes in length

Weather

62 degrees Air Temp I Wind blowing at 15 mph I Clouds are moving out from over the track

Penalized Drivers

No drivers served penalities in this practice session

Top-20 Single-Lap Speeds

      LastBestBestBest
PosCarDriverMakeDeltaLapsLapTimeSpeedLap
112Ryan BlaneyFord--10141.1425.4141.727
22Brad KeselowskiFord0.1878140.2625.59140.685
342Kyle LarsonChevy0.23710140.0725.64140.419
49Chase ElliottChevy0.2448140.3725.65140.378
518Kyle BuschToyota0.2518140.0525.65140.335
648Jimmie JohnsonChevy0.2758140.225.68140.28
788Alex BowmanChevy0.31517139.7625.72139.9814
820Erik JonesToyota0.31910139.6525.72139.968
919Martin Truex Jr.Toyota0.3311139.925.73139.911
1095Matt DiBenedettoToyota0.3488138.7425.75139.82
1124William ByronChevy0.351318.73325.75139.799
1222Joey LoganoFord0.36311139.7225.77139.7211
136Ryan NewmanFord0.38211139.6225.79139.6211
1437Chris BuescherChevy0.38220139.3825.79139.6219
154Kevin HarvickFord0.3958138.8525.8139.555
1641Daniel SuarezFord0.4048139.525.81139.58
173Austin DillonChevy0.41712139.3725.82139.438
1814Clint BowyerFord0.4188138.625.82139.425
1911Denny HamlinToyota0.4218139.4125.82139.418
2017Ricky Stenhouse Jr.Ford0.42711139.3725.83139.3711

Best Lap Averages

No drivers ran 10-consecutive laps in this practice session

Items of Note:

  • Most cars will be in qualifying trim for much of this session with a few teams bringing out race trim for a portion of it
  • There is a new right-side tire on the cars this week that will be being broken in along side seeing a different aero package this weekend again that has full horsepower and full downforce as part of it
  • Five cars were on the track for the drop of the green flag with Matt Tifft, Ryan Preece, and William Byron being some of the early ones on the surface
  • Brad Keselowski is waiting for his car to make it through inspection at the beginning of practice but did mention that his goal this weekend was to bring home his first win at ISM Raceway and said that it should all come down to late-race restarts and having four tires on the car being on the bottom lane
  • Since Darlington of last year, Team Penske has won eight races through last week which is a bit more than half of the 15 races run in that time
  • Early in the session, 7 minutes in, Matt DiBenedetto is tops on the speed chart nearly a full MPH faster than the next closest driver Chase Elliott
  • With 15 minutes gone in the session, Brad Keselowski drove his car to the top of the chart just inching out DiBenedetto
  • Denny Hamlin is in the garage noting the lines that other drivers are taking around the track to get a bit more speed out of his runs, though he sits sixth on the speed chart with 18 minutes gone in the session
  • With 21 minutes gone in the session, Kevin Harvick is P26 on the speed charts having run two total laps
  • Matt Tifft has run the most laps in this session so far with 13 under his belt since he’s not race here in a Cup car yet.
  • Ryan Blaney took over the top spot on the speed chart halfway through practice with a speed of 141.03 MPH, nearly an MPH faster than Chase Elliott in second and 1.5 MPH faster than Brad Keselowski in third
  • Quin Houff is making his Cup series debut this weekend for Spire Motorsports
  • With 28 minutes gone in the session, Fords hold five of the top-10 spots with Toyota having three and Chey having two
  • Just over halfway through the practice, Martin Truex Jr. is 18th and Kurt Busch is 20th on the speed charts
  • Kevin Harvick jumped up to P8 on the charts 31 minutes into practice while fighting a bit of a tight race car but that’s about the only thing run with the car. He’s been quiet on the radio, which is good for him
  • Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is 25th on the speed charts with nine minutes left in practice and he’s fighting a tight race car in which the front end wants to slid up the track not allowing him to get in the gas as fast as he wants to
  • Matt DiBenedetto said his practice went well today and it was fun to drive the full horsepower full downforce package and he put it as a combo between Cup cars and Indy cars in terms of speed and grip level
  • Kyle Larson has had both a tight and loose car this session. It started loose with the backend wanting to kick out and then after adjustments it swung a little on the tight side
  • Chris Buescher ran the most laps in the session with 20 run under green
  • Ryan Blaney says his car is fast, started fast and got better. It’s taken a bit to get used to the added horsepower but the drivers can feel it especially going up through the gears and said you can really stand on the gas getting in the corner and can hustle them around the track