Through Qualifying
Final Practice for FireKeepers Casino 400
Michigan International Speedway
Friday, June 7 4:05 pm ET
50 minutes in length
Weather
Air Temp 78 degrees I Track Temp 127 degrees
Penalized Drivers
Erik Jones and Chris Buescher lost 15 minutes at the end of practice for tech issues at Pocono last week.
Top-20 Speeds (single lap)
Best Lap Averages
Items of Note:
- Several drivers are still trying to find the balance on the car in this session
- Denny Hamlin’s car was bouncing up and down the track and had sparks coming out of the rear end because it’s riding too low and too stiff. He brought it to the garage for ride-height adjustments.
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. took it three-wide down the backstretch five minutes into practice and he’s just one of the guys driving in a big pack.
- Kurt Busch liked the adjustments they made at the start of this session specifically with the left rear.
- Chase Elliott did a mock qualifying run and ran P18 but didn’t have any issues with the car just needs more speed.
- Ryan Blaney started the session on a mock qualifying run and ran the third quickest mock qualifying lap of the ones that have done it. They’re now going to run the rest of the session out in race trim.
- Kevin Harvick is in the middle of a long run halfway through practice and through 15 laps hasn’t said anything on the radio, indicating he’s happy with the car.
- Brad Keselowski went over a bump on the backstretch and it really affected his car and even shook Keselowski in the car.
- Kyle Larson wasn’t able to hold it wide-open in Turn 3 & 4 and has had to get out of the throttle and main racing groove a couple of laps in a row with 22 minutes left in the session.
- Joey Logano is pretty happy with his car though looking for a bit more in the balance department over the long run. He went on a 25-lap run early in practice and his finishing on a 30-lap run.
- Clint Bowyer has been able to put the car just about anywhere he wants to on the track. He’s finishing on a sticker run to compare the car to scuffs it was on earlier, but his Crew Chief isn’t sure what else they can do to the car to make it better.
- SHR Cars are four of the top-five cars with 10 minutes left in the session, meanwhile, Hendrick cars are ninth, 12, 14, and 18th.
- The pack racing continues even late in practice with three-wide happening nearly every lap.
- Daniel Suarez is trying to make the good speed that they have last longer than 10 or so laps before the tightness kicks in. He did win his first Xfinity race at Michigan and really wants to pair his first Cup win with it.
- Aric Almirola has the second-best five and 10-lap averages this session and the best 15- and 20-lap averages.
- Kurt Busch has been near a top-five car in short and long-run speed this session.
Opening Practice for FireKeepers Casino 400
Michigan International Speedway
Friday, June 7 2:05 pm ET
50 minutes in length
Weather
Air Temp 76 degrees I Track Temp 119 degrees
Penalized Drivers
No drivers were penalized this session.
Top-20 Speeds (Single lap)
Best Lap Averages
Items of Note:
- Brad Keselowski and several others will be in race trim for this practice session so speeds should be pretty comparable to Sunday’s race start.
- The cars should be able to drive wide-open expect for the entrance of Turn 3, which is a flatter entrance than the rest and so they may have to let off the throttle a bit on entrance.
- Early in practice, the closing speeds on the drafts is very quick and when cars get side-by-side the cars behind them have a quick closing rate.
- 10 minutes into practice Clint Bowyer was at the top of the chart and has the highest terminal speed entering Turn 1 at 196.45 mph.
- The track was repaved in 2012 and the surface is very smooth and has a nice level of grip.
- Kevin Harvick made a couple of laps and came back to the garage for adjustments after not being happy with the car. He did pit road testing speeds before getting the adjustments.
- The track didn’t put traction compound down but the did drag the tire dragon around the track but not in the top groove which is a bit surprising given how wide the track can be.
- Kyle Busch ran a lap or two and said over the radio that the balance is really bad and thought it was the camber that needed to be worked on. After a few minutes of adjustments, he’s back on the track running a multi-lap run.
- No Michigan born driver has ever won a race at Michigan in the 99 previous races.
- Austin Dillon’s team has said that they are still trying to figure out what they want in the cars for the setup each week when they get to the track.
- Matt DiBenedetto had a run on Ryan Preece and went to the inside but couldn’t complete the pass with 30 minutes left in the session. Knowing what to do with runs will be a key part to Sunday’s race.
- Clint Bowyer is really just focusing on the balance of the car right now and made a packer change his last time into the garage and he said that it has helped.
- Ryan Blaney got really really loose through Turn 3 and nearly went around but saved it and simply drove up the track a bit. He went to the garage immediately.
- With 21 minutes left in the practice, there is a real racy feel breaking out on the track.
- Denny Hamlin said his balance wasn’t good in the first couple of runs of the practice and they are making big balance changes to it along with trying to fix a sluggish feel in the steering wheel.
- Kurt Busch is the only one in the top-10 with 18 minutes left in practice that didn’t run his fastest lap late in the session.
- Five Fords are at the top of the speed charts for entering Turn 3 showing they might have better straightaway speed than Chevys or Toyotas at this point.
- Kevin Harvick has a car that is passing cars pretty easily later in the session and is showing decent speeds with 10 minutes left.
- Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin are the only drivers to run laps of 15 laps or longer with nine minutes left in the session.
- Martin Truex Jr. did a mock qualifying lap late in practice and ran a 38.6-second lap by himself without a draft or anyone else around.
- Chase Elliott says his car is too edgy in Turns 3 & 4 and ended practice with a tire going down on him.