First and FINAL Practice for KC Masterpiece 400
Friday, May 11 12:35 pm ET
2.5 hours in length
Weather
Clear and temps in the mid-70s with winds at 20-25 mph though there were severe storms in the morning
Penalized Drivers
Several drivers served penalties at the beginning of practice for inspection issues at Dover. Some were:
Alex Bowman
Kyle Larson
Kevin Harvick
Kyle Busch
Top-20 Speeds (one lap)
| Pos | Car | Driver | Make | Laps | Last Lap | Best Time | Best Speed | Best Lap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 32 | 186.149 | 29.009 | 186.149 | 32 |
| 2 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevy | 44 | 185.982 | 29.035 | 185.982 | 44 |
| 3 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 39 | 185.166 | 29.163 | 185.166 | 39 |
| 4 | 20 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 40 | 184.634 | 29.247 | 184.634 | 40 |
| 5 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 50 | 184.489 | 29.27 | 184.489 | 50 |
| 6 | 19 | Daniel Suarez | Toyota | 41 | 184.464 | 29.274 | 184.464 | 41 |
| 7 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 52 | 183.113 | 29.299 | 184.307 | 50 |
| 8 | 37 | Chris Buescher | Chevy | 46 | 184.256 | 29.307 | 184.256 | 46 |
| 9 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 45 | 183.368 | 29.318 | 184.187 | 43 |
| 10 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 33 | 184.162 | 29.322 | 184.162 | 33 |
| 11 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 48 | 184.124 | 29.328 | 184.124 | 48 |
| 12 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Chevy | 30 | 174.233 | 29.335 | 184.08 | 16 |
| 13 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Chevy | 38 | 183.748 | 29.388 | 183.748 | 38 |
| 14 | 24 | William Byron # | Chevy | 49 | 181.135 | 29.434 | 183.461 | 45 |
| 15 | 21 | Paul Menard | Ford | 45 | 183.424 | 29.44 | 183.424 | 45 |
| 16 | 38 | David Ragan | Ford | 37 | 183.262 | 29.466 | 183.262 | 37 |
| 17 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Ford | 38 | 182.537 | 29.47 | 183.237 | 36 |
| 18 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevy | 37 | 183.076 | 29.496 | 183.076 | 37 |
| 19 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 27 | 183.02 | 29.505 | 183.02 | 27 |
| 20 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 34 | 182.846 | 29.533 | 182.846 | 34 |
Best 10-Lap Averages
Items of Note:
- Due to weather in the area in the morning, the schedule was compressed and thus there is one, 2.5-hour long practice session for the race.
- Matt Kenseth has been anxiously awaiting getting back into a car. He has not been in a car since Homestead-Miami last year and has not logged any laps in the simulator just yet.
- Austin Dillon says he got really loose in Turns 1 & 2 and in Turns 3 &4 his rear end kicked out and he heard something pop.
- The track surface at Kansas is a lot smoother than the previous few tracks and aerodynamics will matter a lot this week.
- Kurt Busch says that the wind pushes the car into Turn 3 and then crosses the nose of the car on exit of Turn 4.
- Very early in practice, Kevin Harvick came down and did several pit road speed test runs but did not record a lap and then pulled into the garage to work on the car.
- With 2 hours and 10 minutes left in the session, Aric Almirola led the field in single lap speed.
- Kyle Larson is 0-for-42 in winning on 1.5-mile tracks, he does have two top-10s in three 1.5-mile races this season.
- Jeff Gordon was talking about how getting through and out of Turn 2 is the toughest part of the track because of how quick the wall comes up on you.
- There are weepers in the corners with two hours left in practice and it has been mentioned by some drivers on their radio communications with the spotters
- Jamie McMurray says his car is free in the middle of the corner and it feels like it is bottoming out and hitting very hard in the landing. They are changing the left rear spring in the hopes that will help the issue.
- With just under two hours left in the session a caution came out for a bump in the lower groove that was also squishy. The track maintenance staff has cut a relief groove that has let A LOT of water out from under the track. They will need see if the surface is stable.
- Chase Elliott said he was super tight in his first run and was about to make a second run when the caution came out.
- Jimmie Johnson used the break in practice to have adjustments made to his car and watch video. From the video he adjusted his line on the track to improve his lap times.
- The track will tend to loosen up during the night race than it will during day time practice so making sure the car changes with the track will be a tricky task.
- There have been 63 pit road speeding penalties in the last 10 races total at Kansas and 28 in the last four races.
- William Byron had a chatter in the tire on the right side early in practice but now with 67 minutes left in practice the chatter has moved to the left side of the car even on sticker tires and through heat cycles on scuffed tires.
- Nine of the 11 races this season have been won from a top-12 starting position.
- Kevin Harvick had to have his power steering pump swapped out and now his car is driving better. They are working on the balance of the car now with 62 minutes left in the session.
- Kurt Busch has been making several minor changes to the balance in this practice but haven’t dialed it in yet as it has swung from tight to a bit free on the last run with sticker tires.
- So far (45 minutes left) most drivers have been in race trim and won’t make mock qualifying runs until about 20-25 minutes left in the session since there is little time for pre-qualifying inspection and teams won’t want to swap into qualifying trim twice (once to start practice and once at the end for inspection). Aric Almirola is still tops on the board with his mock qualifying run he did to start the session. Kyle Larson is third on the time chart while making a 26-lap run in race trim.
- With 41 minutes left in the session Chase Elliott has gone to the top of the chart in a mock qualifying run, .3 seconds faster than Almirola.
- Matt Kenseth has been struggling with balance to this point. They have been focused on getting more grip in the front end but he has been swinging from tight to loose during the session.
- Jimmie Johnson has not made a long run to this point. He has been running a few laps and then heads back for adjustments in the garage.
- Brad Keselowski was on the radio trying to get notes on other drivers lines through the corners, most notably Kyle Larson and Kevin Harvick.
- With 35 minutes left in the session, only five drivers have made runs longer than 15 consecutive laps and only three have gone past 20 consecutive with those being Almirola, Larson, and Blaney.
- Erik Jones ran a long run between 40-33 minutes left and posted the sixth fastest overall and 8thof 10 in the 10-consecutive lap times.
- Martin Truex Jr. appears to not be able to get onto the throttle in the middle of the corner quite as quick as other drivers just yet and is still looking for a bit more speed during a 20-lap run.
- With 28 minutes left Kyle Larson has the fastest single lap, fastest 10-lap average and fastest 20-lap average. Kyle Busch has the fastest 15-lap average.
- Alex Bowman has been working on several things this session and his last run he described as a bit edgier but could get off corner better.
- Kyle Busch ran the fastest mock qualifying lap with 11 minutes left in practice. Prior to that time no one in the top-five was older than 25 years old.
- Four minutes after Busch’s run, Kevin Harvick went to the top with a 29-flat lap. He is the track record holder here and has been happy with his car overall this session.
- Joey Logano ran 63 laps in this practice and all were in race trim. He did not run a mock qualifying lap.
- Ty Dillon was fighting tightness all session but 2/3 of the way through they finally got the car to drive off the corner the way Dillon wants it to.
- There are 15-20 cars on the track in the last minute all trying to run mock qualifying laps.
- Seven Ford cars made the top-10 of best 15-lap averages, not including Harvick who only ran 14-consecutive laps. Almirola, Bowyer, Blaney, Logano, Keselowski, Busch, Menard were the seven cars.