Practice To Qualifying
Final Practice for AAA Texas 500
Texas Motor Speedway
Friday, November 1 5:05 pm ET
50 minutes in length
Weather
A tad cooler than the first session but still 12 mph winds
Penalized Drivers
No drivers were penalized for this session.
Top-20 Speeds (Single Lap)
Best Lap Averages
Items of Note:
- Ryan Blaney started in Q trim in this session and made a couple lap run before heading back to the garage.
- Kevin Harvick has gotten the most points at 1.5-mile tracks this season so far which bodes well for him making a playoff push the next two races.
- Martin Truex Jr. was feeling a vibration in his car the last time out on the track and the team is trying to diagnose the issue.
- Ryan Newman was testing the outside groove early in this session and was able to pass a couple of cars on the outside.
- Seven minutes into the session there was a pack of about six cars racing in a loosely formed group to see how the cars handle in the air.
- Jimmie Johnson is still not happy with the handling in the car right now. It’s better but it’s still not to where he wants it to be.
- Clint Bowyer and Kyle Larson have different amounts of downforce in the car this week and when synced up side-by-side Larson was faster in Turns 1 & 2 and half of the back straightaway but then Bowyer is faster on the rest of the track.
- There was a five minute red flag for Timmy Hill who stalled out the car at the end of pit road.
- Once the cars went back out on the track they were grouped up in a race type scenario.
- Kurt Busch said that after the red flag the car got tighter in the first set of corners but looser in the second set.
- Alex Bowman is saying his car is still a bit edgy and uses up a bunch of race track on the exit of Turn 2.
- A few guys are having issues with air pressures in the tires this session as there are shadows on the front stretch that are cooling that part of the track down.
- Ryan Newman did a mock qualifying run with 15 minutes left in the session.
- Denny Hamlin still says his car is a bit tight into the corner and wants it freed up a bit for corner off.
- Some drivers are trying to blend when entering on track now to see how the cars handle in dirty air.
Opening Practice for AAA Texas 500
Texas Motor Speedway
Friday, November 1 3:05 pm ET
50 minutes in length
Weather
Upper 50s and sunny with wind at 14 mph
Penalized Drivers
Ryan Blaney (15 minutes at the end of practice)
Top-20 Speeds (Single Lap)
Best Lap Averages
Items of Note:
- The PJ1 has been sprayed from just above the bottom groove to the wall around the corners
- There are a lot of drivers doing shorter runs to start this session with just a couple of laps in each run.
- Pit road speeds are being test as well in the first 10 minutes of practice
- Turns 1 & 2 have seen cars not be able to be on throttle fully while they are wide open in the other corners.
- It’s not an uncommon complaint for cars to be tight in Turns 3 and 4.
- Denny isn’t overly happy with his car at the moment and wants it to handle better in Turns 3 & 4.
- Halfway through the session no one really used the PJ1 to that point since it needs to be warmed up before it becomes helpful.
- Alex Bowman said his nose feels like it’s floating a bit and forcing him to use up a bunch of race track.
- Kyle Larson wants some extra padding on the right side of the driver seat after a couple of runs on the track.
- A couple of a groups of teammates were racing each other around the track to see how their cars handled in traffic with one group being William Byron and Jimmie Johnson
- Kurt Busch still wants a bit more speed in Turns 1 & 2.
- Ty Dillon said his car is a bit too tight in Turns 3 & 4.
- Martin Truex Jr. looked to be a bit tight off of Turn 2 and brought it in for adjustments.
- Clint Bowyer held the top spot on the speed charts for most of practice
- John Hunter Nemechek said his car needs help over the bumps in Turns 3 & 4 and his car got looser as it drove.
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr ran a late mock qualifying run that put him second on the speed charts but said he liked his car over the longer runs too.
- Kevin Harvick really liked his car on the long run and finished P2 in 10-lap average by the end of the session.
- Joey Logano got loose in Turns 1 & 2 when he tried to back the car down a bit and not hold it wide open
- Kyle Larson’s team put more downforce on the car to start the session than they had in the race in March.