Final Practice at Consumers Energy 400

Michigan International Speedway

Saturday, August 11th 11:15 am ET

65 minutes in length

Weather

Conditions most similar to race conditions for this session

Penalized Drivers

No drivers were penalized this session since they all took the penalty earlier in the morning

Top-20 Speeds (one lap)

PosCarDriversMakeLapsLast LapBest TimeBest SpeedBest Lap
122Joey LoganoFord34192.91136.441197.5812
218Kyle BuschToyota44193.30936.452197.5214
388Alex BowmanChevy41194.64736.489197.326
44Kevin HarvickFord41193.97136.509197.2123
542Kyle LarsonChevy38193.59536.515197.1796
612Ryan BlaneyFord35193.67336.521197.14711
711Denny HamlinToyota37194.2936.564196.9158
814Clint BowyerFord43192.48236.572196.8722
920Erik JonesToyota33193.7136.573196.8679
1024William Byron #Chevy39193.74136.587196.7916
1121Paul MenardFord40193.41836.61196.6687
1219Daniel SuarezToyota27194.0736.63196.566
1310Aric AlmirolaFord42193.12336.641196.5014
142Brad KeselowskiFord28192.39536.652196.4427
151Jamie McMurrayChevy50191.28136.655196.4266
1641Kurt BuschFord40192.43636.671196.347
1778Martin Truex Jr.Toyota26193.75736.686196.267
189Chase ElliottChevy29193.00436.697196.2013
1948Jimmie JohnsonChevy26192.41636.739195.9776
203Austin DillonChevy31193.21636.75195.9184

 

Best Lap Averages

Items of Note:

  • This practice was extended by 15 minutes to make up some time from the delayed first practice this morning.
  • Many teams will make several shorter runs at the beginning of the session to make adjustments to the car before putting on sticker tires and making a long 10-15 lap run at the end of the session to see more what it will be like over a green flag race run
  • With 60 minutes left in the session, Chase Elliott slid the car into the infield grass off of Turn 4. There is minimal damage to the front end and it should be easily fixable during this session. After the slide they called him to the garage for a new set of tires and a setup change as they are still looking for the right setup to maximize the speed in the car.
  • There was a five minute red flag after the spin out
  • Ricky Stenhouse Jr. got way up out of the groove in Turn 4 with 52 minutes left in the session but was able to save it from hitting the outer wall. He is now heading to the garage for more adjustments
  • Paul Menard is running decently here this week after having good qualifying efforts the last several races. He’s working on translating the qualifying speed to race speed
  • Jamie McMurray might be in his last season in the 1-car as reports have surfaced about Kurt Busch joining Chip Ganassi Racing next year and might be feeling pressure to have better results.
  • Daniel Suarez says his car is the best he’s ever had here as it has the best bells and whistles that JGR has figured out the last few months. He’s running ninth with 45 minutes left in practice in the original car he brought to the track despite putting it in the wall during qualifying.
  • Kurt Busch says the left front is wandering around a bit in the corner and it’s hard for him to figure out when it’s going to grip the track and when it’s not going to.
  • There are two Hendrick Motorsports cars inside the top-8 with 40 minutes to go in the session with William Byron running P8 and Alex Bowman running P2 behind Joey Logano.
  • William Byron said the car was all over the place in yesterday’s practice and was bouncing and free but today the track feels more normal in this session and the speed and lap times are starting to make more sense to them.
  • AJ Allmendinger was really loose in Turn 3 and had to do a lot of work in the car to save it. They brought it to the garage immediately to do adjustments on it. He turned one lap after the adjustments but he was still chasing grip in the same corner.
  • With 28 minutes left in the session Chase Elliott is back on the track making a longer type run to test the setup and changes.
  • Martin Truex Jr. has finished second here three times but is still looking for top end speed this week as he sits P17 in single lap speeds this session and has turned some of the fewest of the day.
  • Joey Logano has been showing pretty consistent lap times throughout the longer runs this session which bodes well for the race.
  • Bubba Wallace says he has more speed this practice than previous ones but his spotter wants him to have to turn less off the corner in Turn 2 in order to float up against the wall on the backstretch as opposed to have to steer harder to avoid hitting it.
  • With 16 minutes left in practice, Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, and Kyle Larson are among the teams getting read to put sticker tires on the car for a long run to finish off the practice.
  • Brad Keselowski was concerned about ride height on the car after putting the sticker tires on and said it felt like it might be on the splitter but that could be a byproduct of the tire pressures not being full yet.
  • Toyotas were pretty fast in terms of the long run speed in happy hour
  • Ryan Blaney is still running his fastest laps late in practice when everyone else is running 37.00-37.20, he’s running 36.90.
  • Kevin Harvick’s crew chief said late in practice that the 4-car is better than the 18 as the 18 is plowing tight in the corners and the fall off for the 4-car is pretty good and he doesn’t lose much over the long runs.

Second Practice Consumers Energy 400

Michigan International Speedway

Saturday, August 11th 8:30 am ET

Scheduled 50 minutes in length (15 minutes in length after delay)

Weather

Fog delayed the start of the session

Penalized Drivers

Kyle Busch will serve the 15 minute penalty in this session

Daniel Suarez will serve a 15 minute penalty this session

Ryan Newman will serve a 15 minute penalty this session

Top-20 Speeds (one lap)

PosCarDriversMakeLapsLast LapBest TimeBest SpeedBest Lap
120Erik JonesToyota10198.3235.973200.156
224William Byron #Chevy1048.29236.058199.6787
32Brad KeselowskiFord11197.83536.116199.3584
414Clint BowyerFord10196.47436.137199.2425
522Joey LoganoFord10174.05636.181198.9996
612Ryan BlaneyFord11197.68336.186198.9722
788Alex BowmanChevy10197.08236.197198.9124
821Paul MenardFord11196.38336.197198.9124
911Denny HamlinToyota11197.56336.21198.847
104Kevin HarvickFord10191.5236.221198.787
119Chase ElliottChevy10197.56336.278198.4674
1242Kyle LarsonChevy14197.53636.296198.3698
1341Kurt BuschFord6198.33136.303198.3316
1410Aric AlmirolaFord17195.4536.375197.93812
1548Jimmie JohnsonChevy9197.36836.406197.775
1637Chris BuescherChevy11195.736.41197.7484
171Jamie McMurrayChevy16195.83336.42197.6944
183Austin DillonChevy11196.37836.443197.5698
1917Ricky Stenhouse Jr.Ford6195.90236.591196.772
2013Ty DillonChevy12193.80436.682196.2823

 

Best Lap Averages

Items of Note:

  • The 19-team stayed late last night and got here early this morning to fix up the primary car after Daniel Suarez put the car into the wall at qualifying on Friday evening.
  • Joey Logano says the early morning practices often confuse the teams because they will run similar speeds to qualifying but without all the tape on the grill and then the later practice will see the car not drive the same.
  • Chase Elliott is leaning on Alex Bowman to find some speed this week since Bowman has been the fastest of the HMS cars this week and said they tried something but wound up in a different place than they thought they would by the end of practice.
  • Austin Dillon says the car has qualified well but they’ve had trouble translating that speed to the race so far this year. He also thinks this second practice isn’t a great showing of what needs to be changed on the car because the time means it will be more like a second qualifying session.
  • Denny Hamlin had the fastest car in Friday practice and in each stage of qualifying. He will know exactly what his car needs after they get it in race trim during today’s practices. He and Kyle Larson will be flying to Knoxville, IA for the Knoxville Nationals in Sprint cars tonight as Larson tries to win the biggest race of the year for Winged Sprint cars.
  • The fog had burned off and the Air Titans had gotten on the track and the cars had headed to pit road but at 9:10 et the fog rolled back in in Turns 3 & 4.
  • The track went green at 9:15 am ET
  • Kevin Harvick was running in Denny Hamlin tire tracks early in the session to see how his car compared but then backed it down to see how it ran in cleaner air.
  • Brad Keselowski is doing pit road speed tests about halfway through the practice.
  • Halfway through the session, Erik Jones is the only driver to post a 200+ mph average lap.
  • Chase Elliott came in with 3 minutes left in the session to make a sway bar change and some other minor adjustments but he said the car is a lot better than it was yesterday as the Alex Bowman setup is working well for them and he’s currently 11th with 1:30 left.
  • Chris Buescher liked how his car turned through 3 & 4 during the abbreviated session
  • Matt DiBenedetto said his car was still a bit too free for his liking but said it turned more consistently than it did yesterday.

Consumers Energy 400 Opening Practice

Michigan International Speedway

Friday, August 10th 12:05 pm ET

50 minutes in length

Weather

Cloud cover and temps lower than Qualifying 

Penalized Drivers

No drivers were penalized this session

Top-20 Speeds (one lap)

PosCarDriverMakeLapsLast LapBest TimeBest SpeedBest Lap
111Denny HamlinToyota7202.2335.603202.237
241Kurt BuschFord5201.90135.661201.9015
319Daniel SuarezToyota7201.8535.67201.857
412Ryan BlaneyFord5201.79435.68201.7945
518Kyle BuschToyota6201.78235.682201.7826
622Joey LoganoFord5201.59635.715201.5965
714Clint BowyerFord5201.59635.715201.5965
842Kyle LarsonChevy5201.45535.74201.4555
988Alex BowmanChevy9201.38735.752201.3879
1021Paul MenardFord5201.33735.761201.3375
1178Martin Truex Jr.Toyota5201.03335.786201.1963
124Kevin HarvickFord5200.6335.79201.1741
133Austin DillonChevy7200.8735.844200.877
149Chase ElliottChevy5200.60235.892200.6025
152Brad KeselowskiFord5200.52935.905200.5295
1620Erik JonesToyota5199.9536.009199.955
1717Ricky Stenhouse Jr.Ford5199.89536.019199.8955
1810Aric AlmirolaFord5197.50936.028199.8453
1937Chris BuescherChevy7198.43536.058199.6785
2031Ryan NewmanChevy7199.2836.13199.287

 

Best Average Laps

No driver ran 10-consecutive laps this session

Items of Note:

  • Only three cars are in race trim this session with two of them being Hendrick Motor Sports cars in Jimmie Johnson and William Byron
  • Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is one that is focusing strictly on Q trim this session and he wants to work on stuff he wasn’t happy with his car at the last race here.
  • Brad Keselowski says the track is very dirty early and the speeds are still about a half a second slower than they typically are but as more cars hit the track the groove will get cleaned.
  • With 40 minutes left in the session, two cars have run laps with average speeds of 200+ mph in qualifying trim. Kevin Harvick tops the list at 201+ mph
  • Kurt Busch said the brake pedal went soft entering the corner with 35 minutes left and they are now bleeding the brakes on the 41-car.
  • With 26 minutes left in the session there are now four cars topping 200 mph laps with Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin, and Kyle Larson being those drivers.
  • Erik Jones hasn’t been staying at the track this week, he’s been staying at his childhood home each night which is two hours away.
  • The garage area at Michigan is divided by points standings and the guys at the top of the standings get their own garages but anyone below 5th or 6th in points have to share garage stalls with another car which makes things hard to work on.
  • Kyle Busch had a flat tire on the first lap he did when he turned a 19th fastest lap but after putting new tires on he ran a lap that was fourth fastest with 13 minutes left in the session
  • With 10 minutes left in the session there are 10 drivers over 200 mph for a lap as the track cleans up and they fine tune the Q trim in the cars.
  • Denny Hamlin is the fastest car on the track as practice winds down but was still comparing his line to others to see if there is room to improve on his speed
  • Martin Truex Jr. said they tried new setup this time because he wasn’t happy with the car last time here but they were short changed on speed a bit by not going out later in the session as the track got faster all the way through the practice time.