Final Practice For Auto Club 400

Auto Club Speedway

Fontana, California

Saturday, March 16 3:30 pm ET

50 minutes in length

Weather

Air Temp 75 degrees I Track Temp 97 degrees I Winds gusting to 25 mph and the weather is closest to race conditions for tomorrow except for the wind which will be non-existent for the race.

Penalized Drivers

Drivers facing 15-minute practice penalties:

Ross Chastain

Ryan Preece

Ryan Newman

B.J. McLeod

Joey Gase

Top-20 Speeds (Single-lap)

PosCarDriverMakeDeltaLapsLast LapBest TimeBest SpeedBest Lap
12Brad KeselowskiFord--47171.38440.759176.64827
28Daniel Hemric #Chevy0.0238170.59640.782176.5482
341Daniel SuarezFord0.0848167.69940.841176.2931
410Aric AlmirolaFord0.1143169.56740.87176.16822
512Ryan BlaneyFord0.1243171.96140.879176.1325
622Joey LoganoFord0.1347169.97640.89176.0822
76Ryan NewmanFord0.1420166.93740.897176.0522
888Alex BowmanChevy0.1640170.60440.923175.942
93Austin DillonChevy0.1636169.52340.923175.9424
1017Ricky Stenhouse JrFord0.1731169.88340.931175.9061
1118Kyle BuschToyota0.1940171.25740.951175.821
1220Erik JonesToyota0.2239168.18940.979175.73
131Kurt BuschChevy0.2342169.19740.99175.65322
1411Denny HamlinToyota0.2445171.07440.997175.62330
1524William ByronChevy0.2538172.37341.006175.58417
1642Kyle LarsonChevy0.2535171.09541.011175.56320
174Kevin HarvickFord0.2742170.43841.03175.48128
1848Jimmie JohnsonChevy0.2852168.76841.041175.4343
1919Martin Truex JrToyota0.3139169.35241.069175.31521
2014Clint BowyerFord0.3537168.2641.113175.12718
2137Chris BuescherChevy0.3831173.04441.136175.02928

Best Lap Averages

Items of Note:

  • Chase Elliott had a lot of changes made to the car for final practice as they try and find more consistent speed in the 9-car
  • There is a bunch of cars out on the track earlier in the session as they try and find out what the cars are doing in dirty air since no one knows how the cars will react in this package
  • Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, and Aric Almirola are in a nose-to-tail drafting pack for several laps with 45 minutes left in the session
  • Joey Logano had a power-steering issue to start practice and then the temps weren’t where they were supposed to be but with 43 minutes left in the session he is on the track and turning laps
  • Ryan Newman lost his car chief for the weekend after failing pre-qualifying inspection twice on Friday
  • Clint Bowyer felt that his car was just outside the top-10 in speed and they tried a different package but he thinks it’s no better in the early portion of this session
  • The fall off over long runs with the new package isn’t all that much. Brad Keselowski ran a 24-lap run (a half of a fuel run) and his lap times fell off less than a second between the first and 24th laps.
  • It was a pretty racy practice especially with the amount of drafting and bump drafting that was happening about halfway through
  • Kyle Larson and Kurt Busch are both complaining that their cars are just too loose and aren’t handling the way they like it to
  • Daniel Hemric went out early and ran the fastest lap of the session and it held pretty much the whole way
  • Ryan Blaney has tons of long run speed but doesn’t have the best short run speed right off the start.
  • Martin Truex Jr. just hasn’t been able to find the sweet spot for this session. They’ve been on either side of it and are trying sticker tires to give them a baseline to adjust from prior to the race.
  • Ryan Newman has a good short run car but not a good long run car so he and the team will try and sort that out before the race
  • Kyle Busch is finishing the practice on a long run to try and see exactly what they have.
  • Kevin Harvick says he was too tight on the last run of the day and they need to sort out balance and setup

Through Final Practice

This table is a new addition to the practice notes this season and hopefully, it will help breakdown exactly where each driver fits in the practice speed listings. The drivers are in order of DK salaries and the columns mean the following: Prac to Qual is the difference between the Comb. Prac column and the Qualifying spot they have for the race. A positive number indicates they ran faster at average practice speed than where the qualified and should help show who has position differential upside and who may not. The Qual column is simply listing their qualifying spot for the race. The Comb. Prac column is an average of all of that driver's single lap speeds from practice. For example say Driver A registers 195 mph, 196 mph, 197 mph, and 198 mph in the four practices for a race, their Combination Practice speed would be 196.5 and then that speed is ranked amongst the other drivers to get the number you see in column 1 is fastest and 40 is slowest. The others rank where that driver placed for that session and that session's 10-lap average where again 1 is fastest and 40 is slowest.

 Prac to Comb.Prac 3PracPrac 2PracPrac
DriverQualQualPrac10-Lap310-Lap21
Kyle Busch242611224
Kevin Harvick-325101718113
Brad Keselowski1213131136
Kyle Larson-61521816152610
Joey Logano-7512176 625
Martin Truex Jr172710919 416
Aric Almirola-3361645711
Denny Hamlin-10616121410295
Kurt Busch621151913111122
Chase Elliott-98171422 227
Clint Bowyer-10919152091714
Ryan Blaney-10102025 2123
Erik Jones5181351261317
 Prac to Comb.Prac 3PracPrac 2PracPrac
DriverQualQualPrac10-Lap310-Lap21
Daniel Suarez9201111371420
Jimmie Johnson311871814191
Ricky Stenhouse Jr-1112231810 1827
Austin Dillon-2131391792
Ryan Newman-11718207162318
Chris Buescher71472521 103
Alex Bowman92314483824
William Byron132292115 128
Paul Menard-12526242782419
Matt DiBenedetto22422222312209
Daniel Hemric13174124521
Ryan Preece-126272326132828
Ty Dillon-91625 29 2512
 Prac to Comb.Prac 3PracPrac 2PracPrac
DriverQualQualPrac10-Lap310-Lap21
David Ragan-101929 30 3015
Michael McDowell529242624 1526
Bubba Wallace-228302728191631
Ross Chastain-23133 33 3133
Matt Tifft132312831 3232
Landon Cassill13332 32 3330
Corey LaJoie23028 25 2729
BJ McLeod-13637 34 3738
Reed Sorenson-13536 35 3536
Joey Gase03838 36 3837
Cody Ware03434  203434

Second Practice at Auto Club 400

Auto Club Speedway

Fontana, California

Saturday, March 16 12:05 pm ET

50 minutes in length

Weather

62 degrees Air temp I 67 degrees Track temp I 20 mph Wind from NNE with stronger gusts

Penalized Drivers

No drivers served a penalty this session

Top-20 Speeds (Single-lap)

PosCarDriverMakeDeltaLapsLast LapBest TimeBest SpeedBest Lap
14Kevin HarvickFord--22168.45340.94175.8672
218Kyle BuschToyota0.0237171.96140.962175.77322
32Brad KeselowskiFord0.0534169.87140.992175.64415
419Martin Truex JrToyota0.0716172.84841.014175.553
58Daniel Hemric #Chevy0.1137169.81941.047175.4092
622Joey LoganoFord0.1428172.0841.08175.2683
710Aric AlmirolaFord0.1929171.19241.125175.07619
888Alex BowmanChevy0.1926171.83841.131175.0510
93Austin DillonChevy0.2223166.82141.162174.9192
1037Chris BuescherChevy0.2428170.47941.181174.8382
111Kurt BuschChevy0.2833168.91541.222174.6642
1224William ByronChevy0.322168.90341.235174.6091
1320Erik JonesToyota0.3328170.14441.268174.4692
1441Daniel SuarezFord0.3431168.81641.283174.40621
1534Michael McDowellFord0.3514169.95641.294174.3592
1643Bubba WallaceChevy0.3929169.47241.33174.2081
1714Clint BowyerFord0.4125169.07441.353174.1114
1817Ricky Stenhouse JrFord0.4222170.15241.363174.0691
1948Jimmie JohnsonChevy0.4933170.08841.425173.80823
2095Matt DiBenedettoToyota0.527170.46341.438173.75417
2112Ryan BlaneyFord0.525171.26541.439173.7492

Best Lap Average

Items of Note:

  • Joey Logano is focusing on making dirty air the friend of the 22-car after getting a balance baseline on the first run
  • Clint Bowyer scrapped the wall late in practice yesterday and his right-side quarter-panel has some scuffs on it. They are working with scuffed tires in this practice as opposed to sticker tires
  • Daniel Suarez has a handful to deal with when trying to turn and keep the speed through Turns 3 & 4 right now early in practice.
  • Austin Dillon is a bit tight with 40 minutes left in practice while being fifth on the speed charts and working on scuffs.
  • Daniel Hemric is second on the board with 40 minutes left but he’s still looking to find the right balance in the car in race trim
  • Martin Truex Jr. has come out early and shown a lot of speed on his second run after making adjustments to handle the bumps better
  • Kyle Busch ran a 14-lap run and was generally happy with his car at this point but was wondering how many laps the 19-car had run because he could see him gaining in his rearview mirror pretty quickly.
  • Alex Bowman was T-boned on pit road yesterday when Matt Tifft was cleared to go for a run and wound up running into Bowman’s rear quarter-panel. The damage has been taken care of but the speed isn’t quite there yet as he’s 28th on the speed chart.
  • Denny Hamlin is just getting on the track with 33 minutes left in the session. They will only use one set of tires this session and save three sets for final practice which is closer to race conditions.
  • Chase Elliott is having a big problem with the bumps in Turn 3 and saying that it is running right on the splitter and the side skirts of the car
  • Brad Keselowski ran the second quickest lap on the chart halfway through the practice on the 15th lap of a 16-lap run.
  • Kyle Larson says his car simply will not turn and he missed a shift, but he didn’t overrev the engine enough to do damage to it according to the team engineer
  • Michael McDowell says the car is definitely better today than yesterday but the wind is making things challenging to get the balance right at both ends of the track.
  • Bubba Wallace, Joey Logano, William Byran, and Chase Elliott were working in a group to draft with 15 minutes left in the session. They were fanning out in the turns and then getting into a line down the front and back stretch
  • Ross Chastain says he has the best handling car he’s had all year and he’s raced every race at all three series this season.
  • Ricky Stenhouse Jr. says there is a lot that’s different in the feel of the car with this package between last year. He said the bottom is like a cheese grater on the tires and the top couple of lanes are better over the long run. He still needs to be better in Turns 3 & 4 which is a common theme this session.
  • Kyle Busch had the best 15-lap average of the session but Brad Keselowski led the five-lap and 10-lap averages but didn’t run 15-consecutive laps otherwise he would have led that too.

Opening Practice Notes for Auto Club 400

Auto Club Speedway

Fontana, California

Friday, March 15 1:05 pm ET

50 minutes in length

Weather

Sunny and warm but quite windy at the start of practice with gusts between 40-50 mph

Penalized Drivers

No drivers were penalized in this session

Top-20 Speeds (single-lap)

PosCarDriverMakeDeltaLapsLast LapBest TimeBest SpeedBest Lap
148Jimmie JohnsonChevy--5177.11740.137179.3861
23Austin DillonChevy0.017177.14840.145179.351
337Chris BuescherChevy0.097178.97540.229178.9757
418Kyle BuschToyota0.135178.80240.268178.8025
511Denny HamlinToyota0.145177.91840.276178.7673
62Brad KeselowskiFord0.226175.16140.359178.3994
79Chase ElliottChevy0.225177.38440.361178.391
824William ByronChevy0.295177.60740.425178.1081
995Matt DiBenedettoToyota0.315176.97840.445178.021
1042Kyle LarsonChevy0.385176.99640.521177.6861
1110Aric AlmirolaFord0.395177.64640.53177.6465
1213Ty DillonChevy0.397174.84240.531177.6425
134Kevin HarvickFord0.45177.22240.54177.6023
1414Clint BowyerFord0.415177.56740.548177.5675
1538David RaganFord0.448177.44540.576177.4458
1619Martin Truex JrToyota0.455177.40540.585177.4055
1720Erik JonesToyota0.465175.45640.596177.3573
186Ryan NewmanFord0.467177.34440.599177.3447
1921Paul MenardFord0.515177.14840.644177.1485
2041Daniel SuarezFord0.514177.12640.649177.1264

Best Lap Averages

No driver ran 10-consecutive laps in this practice

Items of Note:

  • It is so windy at the track that when some drivers backed out of the garage the roof flaps were blown up.
  • The gusts will make it tough to accurately judge what the cars actually can do
  • There is reduced horsepower once again this week down to 550 hp from the 750 hp from last week at Phoenix.
  • With Four minutes off the clock there have been 16 cars on the track and only one, David Ragan, has taken more than just one lap at a time with everyone in qualifying trim in this session.
  • JGR has had three of four cars finish in the top-10 in all four races this year so far and their average finish as a team is at 8.6 so far.
  • Martin Truex Jr. won this race a year ago and put all but 10 cars at least a lap down by race’s end.
  • Brad Keselowski is the only Ford in the top-10 of the speed charts in the first 11 minutes of the session with drivers doing mock qualifying runs.
  • Martin Truex Jr. said he was pretty tight on the first run of the session and for the second they have freed it up some. He’s looking for what you can do on your own and possibly in a bit of drafting for qualifying in this session.
  • Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was trying out the draft timing coming off of pit road as that will be a key for qualifying well later on Friday afternoon.
  • Jimmie Johnson is atop the speed charts with 23 minutes left in the practice while making just one lap all session.
  • Kevin Harvick is sitting P21 on the speed charts with just one lap run with 29 minutes elapsed in the session.
  • Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski, Paul Menard, and Ryan Blaney were all a part of a drafting group with 20 minutes left in the practice with Hamlin putting up his fastest lap of the practice being in the middle of the draft pack.
  • Kevin Harvick came back out with 33 minutes gone in the session and ran his second mock qualifying run of the practice and jumped up to P11 on the charts.
  • Kyle Larson has been hanging around the top-10 all practice long in his couple of qualifying runs he’s made.
  • Ryan Newman is struggling with the handling on the car so far in practice, but the team isn’t sure how much is the car and how much is the wind.
  • Roush Fenway Racing has had only one finish outside the top-20 this season between both cars this season which is a major improvement from the last couple of seasons.
  • With 10 minutes left in practice, there are groups of several cars running together to form drafting partners for one-lap runs to see what the cars do for qualifying later Friday.
  • Matt DiBenedetto has made three mock Q runs and all three have been in the top-10 in single lap speeds and being as high as P5.
  • With three minutes left in practice, there was a 10-plus car pack that went out in a drafting pack.
  • Kyle Larson says his car is a bit on the snug side especially in Turn 3 & 4 but he was mainly trying to learn where to put his car to get the best draft and which lane was working best when trying to pass and draft.
  • Chris Buescher jumped up to third overall at the end of the session thanks to the draft and the spot he was in it in the last pack that went out.