DFS NASCAR: Bojangles Southern 500 Practice Notes

Final Practice for Bojangles Southern 500

Darlington Raceway

Friday, August 31st 4:05 pm ET

50 minutes in length

Weather

Nearly 100 degrees outside which is warmer than much of the race will be since it’s a night race on Sunday.

Penalized Drivers

No driver served a penalty this practice

Top-20 Speeds (one lap)

Best Lap Averages

Items of Note:

• The middle of turns 1 & 2 is almost like a straightaway in that they can get back in the throttle nearly wide open before finding the second apex of the corner and getting on the brake a bit.
• This track might be the most physically demanding on the schedule because of the surface of the track and the work needed to steer the car around the egg-shaped track with a different track throughout each of the two sets of corners.
• Early in practice Daniel Suarez made a five-lap run and lost .5 seconds between the first and fifth lap showing just how bad the track eats tires.
• Ryan Newman has the fastest lap run in the early part of practice in a must win weekend after posting four top-10s in the last five races here and RCR feels like they are bringing their A-game these last couple of weeks.
• More drivers are running race trim this session than the first session
• With 30 minutes left in practice Aric Almirola brushed the fence coming out of Turn 2 and brought it to the garage to check for damage.
• Kevin Harvick is running a higher lane through Turns 1 & 2 in this session than the first session but his running a similar line down on the apron in Turns 3 & 4 to the first session.
• With 20 minutes left in practice Jamie McMurray was able to get back on the track after having his engine replaced after it blew in just one lap in the first practice.
• Kyle Larson had planned on making three long race runs this session but he only get 20+ laps because of adjustments needed on the car due to being loose.
• Bubba Wallace missed the entrance into pit road at the end of practice and Jimmie Johnson almost missed it as well because it’s a blind entrance coming off of Turn 4.
• Three of the four Hendrick Motor Sports cars finished inside the top-10 for average lap speed across the full session. The only one that missed was William Byron.

Bojangles Southern 500 Opening Practice

Darlington Raceway

Friday, August 31st 2:05 pm ET

50 minutes in length

Weather

It’s going to be very hot all weekend which will make the track slicker

Penalized Drivers

Austin Dillon (30 minutes at the end of practice)

Top-20 Speeds (one lap)

Best Lap Averages

Items of Note:

• Only four sets of tires for the two hours of practice time total. This track eats up tires like Atlanta and Auto Club and Chicago.
• Jamie McMurray had a big time fluid leak with 40 minutes left in practice and stopped it on the front stretch and the car was towed to the garage.
• A lot of cars are making short runs to start the first practice
• The pit road entrance at Darlington is one of the hardest to get to with how early you have to plan for it in the corner. Green flag pit stops with entry and speed and taking tires every time will be pivotal to who wins the race.
• Kevin Harvick is running a lower line than pretty much anyone else on the track as he is not close to the wall in the corners unlike nearly everyone else.
• The throwback scheme this week is the 90s and early 2000s
• Denny Hamlin has been able to hold the fastest lap for most of practice and is the only one to crack an average of 172 mph for a lap.
• Ryan Newman has an average finish of 11.7 at Darlington in his career, the best average finish of any track on the schedule.
• Erik Jones spun out trying to get to pit road with 10 minutes left in practice but didn’t appear to do damage to it.
• Late in practice Kyle Larson cracked the 172 mph mark for a lap but he and Denny were the only two to do that.
• Kurt Busch said his car was getting sloppy and sideways late in the session and that it needed to be tightened up even though he was running 16th.
• Ty Dillon was pretty happy with his car after a few adjustments in between runs and would up showing solid speed while nailing down the grip and handling in all four turns.
• Jamie McMurray wound up blowing an engine, it wasn’t just an oil leak, and with the change in engine he will have to start from the rear but be scored based on where he qualifies for the race.