Through Qualifying
Final Practice for Pocono 400
Pocono Raceway
Friday, May 31 4:05 pm ET
50 minutes in length
Penalized Drivers
No drivers were penalized in this session
Top-20 Speeds (single lap)
| Pos | Car | Driver | Make | Delta | Laps | Last Lap | Best Time | Best Speed | Best Lap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Chevy | -- | 18 | 88.652 | 52.11 | 172.712 | 17 |
| 2 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 0.28 | 29 | 147.541 | 52.387 | 171.798 | 1 |
| 3 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevy | 0.33 | 25 | 81.969 | 52.444 | 171.612 | 24 |
| 4 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 0.52 | 21 | 91.527 | 52.626 | 171.018 | 20 |
| 5 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 0.57 | 34 | 142.753 | 52.678 | 170.849 | 7 |
| 6 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 0.59 | 27 | 136.915 | 52.699 | 170.781 | 1 |
| 7 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 0.61 | 37 | 142.03 | 52.721 | 170.71 | 32 |
| 8 | 20 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 0.62 | 28 | 147.22 | 52.728 | 170.687 | 21 |
| 9 | 24 | William Byron | Chevy | 0.63 | 33 | 141.329 | 52.743 | 170.639 | 10 |
| 10 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 0.64 | 25 | 141.607 | 52.754 | 170.603 | 8 |
| 11 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 0.66 | 25 | 147.319 | 52.772 | 170.545 | 9 |
| 12 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Chevy | 0.72 | 32 | 169.747 | 52.83 | 170.358 | 20 |
| 13 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 0.79 | 42 | 167.461 | 52.895 | 170.148 | 2 |
| 14 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 0.8 | 34 | 141.534 | 52.905 | 170.116 | 24 |
| 15 | 21 | Paul Menard | Ford | 0.84 | 29 | 137.206 | 52.952 | 169.965 | 7 |
| 16 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 0.89 | 23 | 145.483 | 52.996 | 169.824 | 16 |
| 17 | 41 | Daniel Suarez | Ford | 0.9 | 37 | 104.015 | 53.006 | 169.792 | 20 |
| 18 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevy | 0.91 | 22 | 145.431 | 53.017 | 169.757 | 9 |
| 19 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevy | 0.94 | 22 | 96.23 | 53.052 | 169.645 | 18 |
| 20 | 47 | Ryan Preece # | Chevy | 0.97 | 21 | 69.112 | 53.081 | 169.552 | 20 |
Best Lap Averages
Items of Note:
- A few drivers are starting this session with doing mock qualifying runs.
- Chase Elliott ended the last practice with a big oil leak because of a rear gear seal leak but that has been fixed and shouldn’t be a problem going forward.
- Kyle Busch said his car is really really bad going through turn 2 and it was on the splitter and he just couldn’t drive through the corner. He brought it straight to the garage for the team to look at.
- Kyle Larson’s team made significant adjustments to the car in between sessions because it couldn’t even turn in the first session and now, 10 minutes into practice, it’s top-five on the speed charts.
- Kyle Busch went back out after five minutes in the garage and ran a top-five lap in his first lap out.
- Chase Elliott is having to lift in the middle of the Tunnel turn and he’s a bit free in the middle of the corners as well at the moment.
- Jimmie Johnson opened practice with a qualifying run and then switched to race trim for a longer run like we’ll see on Sunday.
- Brad Keselowski didn’t get a chance to see how the car acts around other cars in the first practice so they are trying to get some drafting in this session.
- Clarifying the shifting note in the first-practice practice notes, NASCAR changed the gear ratios between the third and fourth gears meaning it would be disadvantageous to shift into fourth gear hear rather than staying in third gear.
- Denny Hamlin had a steering issue at the end of the first practice so they swapped out steering boxes and now he says it feels like normal but the car is loose in Turns 1 and 2 but good in three. He did jump up a few spots on the speed chart in the last run
- Erik Jones and Brad Keselowski nearly ran to each other on pit road as they were doing two different pit road tests.
- Daniel Hemric says the track is still tricky in this package and the car has been on both sides of the balance and he can’t stay on the throttle the whole time like other faster cars can so they are making a setup change.
- Daniel Suarez was at the top of the speed charts last practice after a mock qualifying run but this practice they are doing long run race speeds and are trying to dial in the balance and are 14th on the speed charts with 15 minutes left in the session.
- Brad Keselowsi had to come into the garage after complaining that his steering wheel was moving and something wasn’t quite right with the car with 14 minutes left in the session.
- Corey LaJoie has run top-12 two of the last four weeks which is boosting their confidence and he says that seeing what the other drivers are doing with their throttles and brakes is helping him pick up speed even though his tires are getting older.
- Kurt Busch went to the top of the chart with six minutes left in the session.
- Kyle Larson did a mock qualifying run late in the session, with two minutes left, and went to third on the speed charts. He has been good in race and qualifying trim.
- Matt DiBenedetto missed final practice because his team swapped out engines. He will start from the rear but be scored from where he qualifies on Saturday.
Opening Practice for Pocono 400
Pocono Raceway
Friday, May 31 2:05 pm ET
50 minutes in length
Weather
71 degrees with 8 mph wind
Penalized Drivers
No drivers were penalized for this session
Top-20 Speeds (single-lap)
| Pos | Car | Driver | Make | Delta | Laps | Last Lap | Best Time | Best Speed | Best Lap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 41 | Daniel Suarez | Ford | -- | 18 | 78.369 | 52.565 | 171.217 | 17 |
| 2 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 0.04 | 18 | 171.09 | 52.604 | 171.09 | 18 |
| 3 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Chevy | 0.27 | 24 | 98.068 | 52.836 | 170.338 | 23 |
| 4 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 0.29 | 21 | 146.599 | 52.851 | 170.29 | 17 |
| 5 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 0.31 | 21 | 77.73 | 52.871 | 170.226 | 15 |
| 6 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 0.37 | 11 | 152.176 | 52.932 | 170.029 | 8 |
| 7 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 0.37 | 21 | 168.388 | 52.933 | 170.026 | 14 |
| 8 | 24 | William Byron | Chevy | 0.38 | 15 | 138.837 | 52.946 | 169.985 | 12 |
| 9 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 0.39 | 24 | 140.907 | 52.956 | 169.952 | 16 |
| 10 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 0.4 | 19 | 103.219 | 52.964 | 169.927 | 13 |
| 11 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevy | 0.47 | 24 | 145.789 | 53.03 | 169.715 | 12 |
| 12 | 21 | Paul Menard | Ford | 0.47 | 17 | 91.476 | 53.033 | 169.706 | 16 |
| 13 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Chevy | 0.48 | 22 | 146.211 | 53.043 | 169.674 | 12 |
| 14 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Chevy | 0.48 | 20 | 136.546 | 53.044 | 169.67 | 9 |
| 15 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 0.49 | 29 | 102.466 | 53.05 | 169.651 | 23 |
| 16 | 20 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 0.51 | 23 | 168.394 | 53.078 | 169.562 | 4 |
| 17 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 0.67 | 20 | 95.975 | 53.233 | 169.068 | 10 |
| 18 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevy | 0.72 | 16 | 144.755 | 53.288 | 168.894 | 11 |
| 19 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevy | 0.73 | 25 | 111.374 | 53.297 | 168.865 | 23 |
| 20 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 0.74 | 21 | 143.949 | 53.305 | 168.84 | 17 |
Best Lap Averages
Only Jimmie Johnson, Clint Bowyer, and Austin Dillon ran 10-consecutive lap runs in this practice session.
Items of Note:
- In the first seven minutes of the session the top six cars were all Fords.
- Most drivers are doing long runs at the start of the session as there are just two practices here this weekend.
- Martin Truex Jr. went out and did a few lap run to shake the car down and check the ride heights and are now making adjustments.
- Denny Hamlin said the car was really loose in the first run of the day and he only made two laps on the first run of the day.
- Several drivers are expecting the restarts to be insane this weekend with how wide the track is and the draft you can get in this package.
- Joey Logano is working on being able to go full throttle through the Tunnel turn since right now he has to let the throttle off a bit which kills the momentum.
- Brad Keselowski is having the team making adjustments to the geometry of the front end of the car to adjust ride height
- Shifting won’t be an issue like it typically is here since the rules on the transmission have been changed so drivers won’t be able to get big launches out of the corners by short shifting like they normally did.
- Teams are starting to get together to make drafting laps around the track since they haven’t used this package before on the track.
- After the midway point, Clint Bowyer snuck up to the second fastest lap on the board
- When drafting broke out, three Chevys made the top-10 for the first time in the session.
- All four JGR Toyotas are inside the top-10 with 10 minutes left in practice.
- Several cars have had their shocks and springs changed during this practice to try and get the balance and feel correct in the cars.
- With just 8 minutes left in the session, William Byron is sitting P28 on the speed chart and had a group meeting in the garage including Byron himself before making a change they want to try.
- After the adjustments to Byron’s car, he shot to P6 on the speed chart with three minutes left in the session.
- Daniel Suarez is pretty happy with his car to this point but wants to be a bit better in the longer run and that’s what they will work on in the second practice.
- Jimmie Johnson was battling grip all session and between having it or not having it.
- Alex Bowman was between free and tight throughout practice but mostly was happy with how his car ended up especially in the tunnel turn.