Final Practice for FireKeepers Casino 400
FINAL PRACTICE WAS CANCELLED ON SATURDAY DUE TO RAIN IN THE AREA. PLAYBOOK AND LINEUPS WILL BE UP SATURDAY AFTERNOON.
Second Practice for FireKeepers Casino 400
Saturday June 9th 9:05 am ET
50 minutes in length (shortened to 40 minutes)
Weather
Cool and cloudy following rain and 75 degrees of track temp for this session
Penalized Drivers
There were no penalized drivers in this session of practice
Top-20 Speeds (one lap)
| Pos | Drivers | Make | Laps | Best Time | Best Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 21 | 35.871 | 200.719 |
| 2 | Kyle Larson | Chevy | 27 | 35.985 | 200.083 |
| 3 | Joey Logano | Ford | 26 | 36.036 | 199.8 |
| 4 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 23 | 36.05 | 199.723 |
| 5 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 18 | 36.085 | 199.526 |
| 6 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 23 | 36.104 | 199.424 |
| 7 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 13 | 36.117 | 199.352 |
| 8 | William Byron | Chevy | 27 | 36.122 | 199.325 |
| 9 | Kurt Busch | Ford | 30 | 36.213 | 198.824 |
| 10 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 30 | 36.242 | 198.665 |
| 11 | Paul Menard | Ford | 25 | 26.243 | 198.659 |
| 12 | Daniel Suarez | Toyota | 25 | 46.264 | 198.544 |
| 13 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 31 | 36.282 | 198.446 |
| Ryan Blaney | Ford | 17 | 36.288 | 198.413 | |
| 15 | Alex Bowman | Chevy | 30 | 36.293 | 198.385 |
| 16 | Ryan Newman | Chevy | 30 | 36.296 | 198.369 |
| 17 | Chase Elliott | Chevy | 21 | 36.302 | 198.336 |
| 18 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 18 | 36.313 | 198.276 |
| 19 | Chris Buescher | Chevy | 26 | 36.319 | 198.243 |
| 20 | Jamie McMurray | Chevy | 21 | 36.327 | 198.2 |
Best 10-lap Averages
Items of Note:
- Kurt Busch is going to start on scuffed tires this practice and switch to stickers later in the session so they can get an idea of what the scuffs feel like due to the fact that weather is coming in later today.
- Aric Almirola will also be starting on scuffed tires and switching to stickers but he also got race runs in at Friday’s practice.
- The Goodyear tire this year is designed to have more fall off this year than previous years and to lay down more rubber on the track.
- Kyle Larson has been struggling with the new Goodyear tire but they are completely changing the race setup in the car compared to Friday in order to find the feel in the car that Larson likes.
- Kyle Busch waited until 38 minutes left in the session to come on the track because of the wetness of the track and rubber that was on it previously.
- Jamie McMurray who qualified 24th also is undergoing big changes in their setup as is his teammate. He ran four laps in the first run out and said it felt a lot better but there was still work to be done on the car.
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. had a bit of a bobble in Turn 2 with 21 minutes left in the session and because they feel like they overachieved in qualifying based off of practice and they are working on balance a lot in this session.
- Daniel Suarez is just a bit on the free side right now and they are trying to tighten it up for him.
- Brad Keselowski is a bit tight currently even on scuffed tires and they are trying to free it up.
- Storm clouds moved into the area late in practice and the wind picked up into the corners and down the backstretch
- Only two cars averaged a lap of better than 200 mph being Kevin Harvick and Kyle Larson.
- Aric Almirola ran the most laps in the session at 31 but he doesn’t like the changes they made to the car from yesterday to today’s first session.
- Kyle Busch says his car was good balance wise and felt nice and drivable in this session.
- William Byron feels like his car is handling well especially off the corner but he needs it to turn a bit better especially at max load.
- Kasey Kahne really liked the improvements the team made to the car compared to yesterday’s practice and said the car was “so much better.” The balance is still a bit tight and needs a bit more turn off in his front end.
Opening Practice for FireKeepers Casino 400
Friday, June 8th 11:35 am ET
50 minutes in length (extended to one hour in length)
Weather
Sunny skies and clear with temps close to what race day will have in store.
Penalized Drivers
Joey Logano (15 minutes at the end of practice)
Chase Elliott (15 minutes at the end of practice)
Garrett Smithley (15 minutes at the end of practice)
Top-20 Speeds (one lap)
| Pos | Driver | Make | Laps | Best Time | Best Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 5 | 35.535 | 202.617 |
| 2 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 5 | 35.655 | 201.935 |
| 3 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 5 | 35.667 | 201.867 |
| 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 5 | 35.736 | 201.478 |
| 5 | Chase Elliott | Chevy | 5 | 35.797 | 201.134 |
| 6 | Kurt Busch | Ford | 9 | 35.887 | 200.63 |
| 7 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 14 | 35.898 | 200.568 |
| 8 | Paul Menard | Ford | 5 | 35.944 | 200.312 |
| 9 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 8 | 35.977 | 200.128 |
| 10 | Joey Logano | Ford | 5 | 36.004 | 199.978 |
| 11 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 5 | 36.025 | 199.861 |
| 12 | Alex Bowman | Chevy | 13 | 36.046 | 199.745 |
| 13 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 10 | 36.079 | 199.562 |
| 14 | Ryan Newman | Chevy | 7 | 36.098 | 199.457 |
| 15 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 10 | 36.109 | 199.396 |
| 16 | Kyle Larson | Chevy | 5 | 36.137 | 199.242 |
| 17 | Austin Dillon | Chevy | 7 | 36.162 | 199.104 |
| 18 | Jamie McMurray | Chevy | 4 | 36.175 | 199.032 |
| 19 | William Byron | Chevy | 14 | 36.182 | 198.994 |
| 20 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 8 | 36.195 | 198.923 |
Best 10-lap averages
Clint Bowyer was the only driver to run 10-consecutive laps in this session
Items of Note:
- Joey Logano will go out pretty much exclusively in qualifying trim in this practice with the ARCA tire rubber already on the track and a short session because of a penalty
- Early in practice there is a lot of drying powder on the track in the outside groove from Turn 2 all the way through Turn 3.
- There are a few drivers going out in race trim but most are in qualifying trim with two practice on Saturday.
- The turns are 61 feet wide on both ends of the track, the front stretch is 48 feet wide and the backstretch is 56, it’s a very wide track with more than three racing grooves on the surface.
- The track dragged tires around Turns 1&2 from the middle groove to the outside wall, to try and increase the amount of traction on the surface to start the weekend.
- Jimmie Johnson was practicing pit road speeds while waiting for the speedy dry to dissipate from the track. He hasn’t had a speeding penalty since March of 2017 in Atlanta.
- Brad Keselowski would be the first Michigan-born driver to win at Michigan Speedway at the Cup level if he wins on Sunday. He felt good about the test they did at the track about a month ago and they are working off that data this week.
- This track is also the home track of Erik Jones as he grew up about an hour and a half from the track. He is making at least one or two race runs at this practice session.
- Kevin Harvick went out in race trim but the track was so dirty they didn’t run a full lap in it. With 35 minutes left in the session they are switching over to qualifying trim.
- Denny Hamlin started in race trim but the track was dirty and so he’s not sure what they actually learned. They are switching to qualifying trim with 28 minutes left in the session. He said the track is a one-groove track at the moment because the tire they are using hasn’t laid down a lot of rubber right now.
- Daniel Suarez went out in race trim but is now switching over to qualifying trim with 20 minutes left in practice. His first win in the Xfinity series came at Michigan in 2016.
- Chase Elliott was tight in the qualifying run and the team made adjustments but the car is still tight even through two more qualifying runs.
- With 12 minutes left in practice Jimmie Johnson was making just his third lap of the session and he got a little loose getting into Turn 3 on a mock qualifying run.
- Kasey Kahne had a wiggle getting into Turn 3 with 8 minutes left in practice
- Late in practice a few cars went over 210 down the front stretch with speeds topping out at 217 mph.