Through Qualifying
Final Practice for South Point 400
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Friday, September 13th 7:30 pm ET
50 minutes in length
Weather
99 degrees air temp I Track Temp 132 degrees I Wind at 6 mph
Penalized Drivers
No drivers were penalized for this session
Top-20 Speeds (single lap)
Best Lap Averages
Items of Note:
- Kyle Busch has been able to hold the throttle wide open for the first several laps of the run with the track temp over 130.
- Martin Truex Jr said in the first practice he made 20 laps and never cracked the throttle once.
- Kurt Busch said the car is on the splitter the whole time and he feels like it’s a completely different car than first practice.
- Joey Logano said on Sunday the line all the way up by the wall will be used when it will be very hot and slick.
- Kyle Larson said the car is better in 1 & 2 but it’s still tight in 3 & 4 and a bit bumpy.
- Jimmie Johnson said he gets tighter as he runs and especially in the center of the corner.
- Kevin Harvick had a big time save in Turn 4 and his car is still need a bunch of input on the 17th lap of his run.
- Alex Bowman says his car is missing a bit of the turn in the center of the corner making it tougher to get the speed off that he wants.
- Kevin Harvick ran a few more laps and then said he was brining it to the pits since he was holding on for dear life.
- Alex Bowman wants to know if the top line is any faster than the bottom groove and was comparing himself against Chase Elliott and Joey Logano. He also feels like he can float his car more into the corner up high.
- Chase Elliott started the practice in qualifying trim but they went faster in the race trim than they did in qualifying trim.
- Aric Almirola said his car was too trimmed out in the first session and he did nine laps this session and had to bring it in to get adjustments since he was way too loose for his liking.
- A few different drivers are complaining of their cars not feeling like it’s in the track throughout the lap.
- Kurt Busch is really frustrated with his car and said his car has been terrible all day and in fact has said he can’t tell the team what it needs because it’s that far off.
- Denny Hamlin said he’s really tight in turns 3 & 4 and said he’s still having problems with the front left tire that won’t give him the drive off that he wants it to.
- Daniel Suarez said he hasn’t been able to drive it full throttle for more than a lap or two.
- Ryan Newman did a 27-lap run for a good chunk of the second session.
- Joey Logano has done two long runs this session and now on the second run he is getting the feel of the draft.
- Kyle Larson’s car is still bouncing all over the place on the track and his handling is questionable as well. He is learning that turns 1 & 2 have more grip when out of the sun than turns 3 & 4.
- Kurt Busch ran a lap in clean air and it was the fastest lap but he still hates his car in traffic.
Opening Practice for South Point 400
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Friday, September 13th 4:35 pm ET
50 minutes in length
Weather
95 degrees air temp I Feels like 95 degrees I Wind at 6 mph
Penalized Drivers
No drivers were penalized this session
Top-20 Speeds (single lap)
Best Lap Averages
Items of Note:
- William Byron said his car feels like he’s chasing the car up the track a bit early in the session
- Denny Hamlin says his car is really on the splitter and it screws up the entry into the corner and his car is way too stiff.
- Chase Elliott says his balance is good and stays good when he’s around other cars in traffic as well.
- Most drivers are doing mock qualifying laps in the first part of this session.
- There seems to be two distinct lines in turns 1 & 2 with guys either driving the bottom or more the middle groove while they are mostly on the bottom line in turns 3 & 4.
- There was a caution about 20 minutes in for debris on the back stretch.
- Kevin Harvick had to chase the car up the track in Turn 4 after it just didn’t turn very well and he wants better handling over the bumps in turns 1 & 2.
- About halfway through the session, a group of five cars began to race and see how each other were doing in traffic.
- Jimmie Johnson ran some pit road tests to check speed and the lights with about half the practice left.
- Denny Hamlin is still having issues with the balance on his car. He thinks it’s the left front that is making him plow and get on the splitter. He said when he’s underneath guys he gets the air taken off of his nose and lose the front grip.
- Kyle Larson doesn’t like the balance on his car and after a few adjustments he’s saying it’s worse than it was previously.
- He said early in the run he doesn’t have rear grip and it won’t turn the way he wants it to but later in the run the grip comes in because it’s either tight or get better. He’s gone for adjustments.
- With six minutes left in the session Daniel Suarez’s car was showing that it was 136 degrees inside the car. It’s expected to be 101 as a high on Sunday during the race.
- A few drivers let in the session asked if anyone had gone in the upper lane in turns 3 & 4 yet.
- Very late in the session, a lot of drivers did mock qualifying runs for one lap.
- William Byron had the fastest lap for most of the session until Bowyer topped him very late in the session. He wants to work on drivability in some areas of the track.