Final Atlanta Driver Ratings: 2017 Folds of Honor Quik Trip 500

Jimmie Johnson didn't look as good as Hendrick Motorsports teammates during practices.

Micah Roberts' Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Driver Ratings
Folds of Honor Quik Trip 500
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Sunday, March 5, 2017 - 2:46 pm ET
RATED DRIVER     ODDS                    PRACTICE 1          QUALIFIED        PRACTICE 2      ATLANTA '16*
 1. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 12/1           26th                 12th               8th                 2nd
2004 winner, 11.6 avg finish in 29 starts; second-best 10-consecutive lap avg in final practice.
 2. Chase Elliott 12/1                   19th                 11th               1st                 8th 
Has car dialed in similar to teammate Earnhardt; top-10 finishes on six 1.5-mile tracks in 2016
 3, Brad Keselowski 8/1               10th                  5th                2nd                9th
Career-best third in 2012, ninth past two seasons; won twice on high-banked 1.5s during 2016.
 4, Ryan Newman 80/1                  1st                  2nd               6th                24th
No wins anywhere since 2013, but looks strong; best 10-consecutive laps avg in final practice
 5. Denny Hamlin 12/1                   8th                 10th               5th                16th
2012 winner 18th-place avg finish; best showing among all Toyotas during final practice.  
 6. Jimmie Johnson 5/1                21st                 18th              23rd                 1st
Five-time winner, including last two years. Not very good in practice, but never doubt him here.
 7. Kevin Harvick 6/1                    25th                  1st              27th                 6th
2001 winner, his first Cup win, but none since. Led race-high 131 laps in 2016, 679 in 26 starts..
 8. Kyle Busch 6/1                         3rd                  3rd               15th                 3rd
Two-time winner, the last in 2013, with 15.2 avg finish in 18 starts; won twice on 1.5s in 2016.
 9, Kyle Larson 12/1                      6th                   8th              10th                26th 
Eighth-place as rookie in 2014; closed out 2016 on final 1.5 track leading race-high 132 laps.
10. Jamie McMurray 100/1            2nd                  7th               12th               21st 
No top-5s in 23 career starts, 20.5 avg finish, but practiced extremely well; great long shot play.
11. Martin Truex Jr. 8/1                11th                  9th               25th                7th
Didn't practice well, but leading series-high 883 laps between 11 1.5-mile tracks matters.
12. Kurt Busch 6/1                       14th                 13th               3rd                 4th
Three-time winner with 769 laps led in 25 starts; has 6.7 avg finish over past seven starts.

Note: There were only two scheduled practice session with Saturday's final session being 80 minutes.

* Results from last years Atlanta Cup (Feb 28).

Opening odds courtesy of Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook.

Micah Roberts, a former Las Vegas sports book director, has been setting auto racing odds in Las Vegas since 1994. 

Joe Gibbs Racing puts on drafting show in final Clash practice

Daniel Suarez fit right in with his Gibbs teammates in practice.

After not seeing the track at a in the first practice session for the Advanced Auto Parts Clash, Joe Gibbs Racing swept the top four in the second and final session.

Denny Hamlin, who will start second in the exhibition race, was fastest at 196.528 mph. That came as all four Joe Gibbs Racing cars drafted alone for most of the 55-minute session.

Hamlin was followed by rookie Daniel Suarez, Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth. Joey Logano completed the top five and Danica Patrick was sixth fastest.

Brad Keselowski, the pole-sitter for the Clash, was fastest in the first session, which was devoted to single-car runs. He was 10th fastest when working in the draft.

Read More Here....NBC Sports


Final Practice Speeds

Final Kansas Speedway Driver Ratings: 2016 GoBowling.com 400

Will Martin Truex Jr. finally win at Kansas already......lots of drama.

LAS VEGAS -- Martin Truex Jr. laid down the fastest lap in Friday's final practice session and qualifying at Kansas Speedway in preparation for Saturday night's GoBowling.com 400. Truex, with a speed at 187.696 mph, led a race-high 95 laps at Kansas last spring before settling for ninth. He's part of the Joe Gibbs Racing gang that all looked stellar during the sessions.

JGR's Matt Kenseth had the second fastest lap (187.617) in the final session and also had the best 10-consecutive lap average, which is a sign he's going to be very good on long runs. He doesn't have a top-five through 10 races, but he's got two wins at Kansas and it's the ideal spot for him to turn in his best run of season, maybe even win.

Because of Jimmie Johnson's Kansas history, which is the best, and also his run on 1.5-mile tracks this season -- Fontana's 2-mile speedway too -- he still remains the driver to beat and has the top overall rating.

Micah Roberts' Top-10 Rated NASCAR Drivers
GoBowling.com 400
Kansas Speedway
Saturday, May 7, 2016 - 4:46 pm (PT)   
 
Rating     Driver       Odds     Practice 1   Practice 2  Qualified    '16 Las Vegas*
 1. Jimmie Johnson 5/1             11th            4th             15th               3rd
Three-time winner, including last spring; best 10-consecutive lap average in practice 1.
 2. Martin Truex Jr. 10/1            2nd             1st               1st             11th 
Two-time runner-up, led race-high 95 laps last spring and 346 laps overall in 15 starts.
 3. Kyle Busch 8/1                     21st            5th                6th              4th
No top-10s in first 14 starts, but top-fives in past two; won at last 1.5-mile track (Texas).
 4. Matt Kenseth 8/1                10th            2nd               2nd            37th
Two-time winner, led race-high 153 laps last fall; best 10-consecutive lap average practice 2.
 5. Joey Logano 8/1                   14th          16th             14th              2nd 
Top-five in past five starts, including wins in two of past three; still looking for first 2016 win.
 6. Carl Edwards 8/1                   3rd           12th             12th            18th
Considers this his home track; second-best 10.6 average finish in 17 starts -- runner-up in 2008.
 7. Brad Keselowski 12/1          19th           13th              5th              1st 
2011 winner. Mr. consistency: 15 straight top-10 finishes on 1.5-mile tracks ended at Texas.
 8. Denny Hamlin 15/1                6th             3rd              3rd            19th
2012 winner, runner-up last fall; second-best 10-consecutive lap average in practice 2.
 9. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 12/1        13th           20th           22nd             8th 
No wins in 19 starts, third last spring. Runner-up in two of three races on 1.5-mile tracks in 2016.
10. Kevin Harvick 5/1                  7th           30th           26th              7th
2013 winner, runner-up past two spring races. Bad news is no top-fives on three 1.5s in 2016.

* Results from March 6, 2016 Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a track that runs most similar to Kansas Speedway among three races on 1.5-mile tracks this season.

Odds courtesy of the Westgate SuperBook.

Micah Roberts, a former Las Vegas sports book director, has been setting NASCAR odds since 1994. Follow him on twitter @MicahRoberts7

Final Charlotte Practice Notes & Driver Ratings: Busch Bros. look really good

Kurt Busch looks really, really good this week at Charlotte. Fastest in both of Friday's practices.

Micah Roberts' Top-10 Rated NASCAR Drivers
Bank of America 500
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Saturday, October 10, 2015 - 4:16 pm (PT)
 
Rating     Driver       Odds                       Practice 1    Qualified            Practice 2         Practice 3
 1. Kyle Busch 6/1                         21st            2nd              10th              1st
Led most laps on last two 1.5-mile tracks, winning at Kentucky. Should be best on long runs.
 2. Kurt Busch 10/1                         9th            6th                 1st              2nd 
2010 winner; third best 10-consecutive lap average in practice 2 and 3. Using Kentucky chassis.
 3. Denny Hamlin 10/1                17th            5th                7th             11th
Won All-Star race (Charlotte) in May and won on last 1.5-mile track to kick off Chase at Chicago.
 4. Matt Kenseth 7/1                     2nd            1st              22nd            25th
Two-time winner; top-five finishes on past three 1.5-mile tracks. Season leader with five wins.
 5. Kevin Harvick 9/2                      1st           11th             26th             12th
Three-time winner, including this race last season; using fifth-place Darlington chassis this week.
 6. Carl Edwards 10/1                   19th            8th               2nd               8th
Captured first career Charlotte win in May and has been fourth or better on past three 1.5s.
 7. Jimmie Johnson 8/1               18th            7th               9th             13th
Seven-time winner; out of Chase, but had best 10-consecutive lap average in practice 2.
 8. Joey Logano 10/1                      4th             3rd               5th              3rd
Leads active drivers with a 10.2 average finish in 13 starts. Sixth or better on five of seven 1.5s.
 9. Brad Keselowski 10/1            14th          13th               6th              6th
2013 winner finished ninth or better on all seven 1.5s this year; should be just as competitive.
10. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 20/1           7th          12th               8th              5th
No points paying Charlotte wins in 31 starts, but showed great average speeds in practice.

Note: This is the eighth race on a 1.5-mile track this season and second of five in the Chase. Being the best on these tracks has traditionally been the gateway to a championship.

Odds courtesy of the Westgate Las Vegas Super Book.

Micah Roberts, a former Las Vegas sports book director, has been setting NASCAR odds since 1994. Follow him on twitter @MicahRoberts7

Final Brickyard Practice Notes & Driver Ratings

Carl Edwards on pole, but he was left off top-10 rated list. 

LAS VEGAS -- NASCAR gave the Sprint Cup teams 285 minutes of practice time between three sessions on Friday to figure out the best set-up under the new high drag package for Sunday’s Brickyard 400, but drivers and crews still don’t have that set-up completely dialed in yet meaning it will be a work in progress during race day.

This makes things a little more difficult to handicap with odds to win, driver match-ups and for those playing daily fantasy -- which by the way is also 100 percent gambling. You come in this race not knowing the whole story. It’s not quite the crap shoot as a restrictor-plate race, but all the elements needed to give a driving the proper rating just isn’t there. If the drivers and crews are uncertain how things are going to run, then how the heck can anyone else?

"To me the restart is where this package is going to play a bigger role than in practice," 2010 Brickyard 400 winner Jamie McMurray told the media following Friday's second practice. "The thing with practice is that as you start to catch the car in front of you, typically their car is not very good. So, when you see somebody catching you fairly quick you pull in so you can work on it and get your car better. I really haven’t been within 10 car lengths of anyone in front of me."

McMurray said there's supposed to be over 100 horsepower drag advantage to the car in back meaning there should be some serious sling shot moves around the turns, but he hasn't seen it yet.

"I honestly think until we get into the race on Sunday that it’s hard to get anyone’s true opinion on what we are going to have. To me on Sunday when you get two cars side-by-side with this package the guy in third is going to have an extra engine. It’s going to be crazy the amount of speed that he is going to have. I don’t know, the restarts are going to be pretty wild, I think.”

With the spoiler raised up to nine-inches, it's slowing the cars down on the straightaways, but it also allows the drivers to come in and out of all four corners with more throttle, which should create a lot more passing. The higher spoiler also made drivers visibility in their rear-view mirror difficult,

Only six drivers led laps at Pocono where passing was extremely difficult, and Pocono is a track that can be compared the most with Indy. When NASCAR made the aero-package changes at Kentucky after seeing most of the previous 1.5-mile tracks this season be dominated by a select few, the changes were beautiful with all types of passing. I think we'll see something similar here with one of the more exciting Brickyard races we've witnessed in the 22 years NASCAR has been going to Indianapolis.

More passing means less domination in theory which in turns means there's less of a favorite to win. It would be ridiculous to take 4-to-1 odds on Kevin Harvick even though he is our top rated driver this week just because there are more possibilities unaccounted for opposed to other race weeks. There was almost something good to say about most every driver during Friday's three practice sessions, and at the same time, other than Harvick and Jimmie Johnson, there was also some negative things about those same drivers.

The teams that have shown the most horsepower this season on the big tracks are going to be good again this week, but the advantage is far less because of the drag. We've seen 17 of the 21 Brickyard races won by past Sprint Cup champions and the past 12 have been won by Chevrolet, but if Clint Bowyer won on Sunday, it wouldn't really come as shock to me because Michael Waltrip Racing found some speed during the second session Friday, as did teammate David Ragan. If that wild scenario happened, it would be Toyota's first win on the bricks.

If I could only make two wagers for Sunday's race it would be on four-time Indy winner Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne who led a race high 70 laps in this race last season. During the final practice session Kahne had the best 10-consecutive lap average, which means he's going to be good on the long runs and has his entry and exit plan through the turns figured out well.

Micah Roberts’ Top-10 Driver Ratings

Crown Royal Jeff Kyle 400 

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Sunday, July 26, 2015 -  12:46 pm (PT)

RATING    DRIVER   ODDS         PRAC 1     PRAC 2     PRAC 3      QUALIFIED 

 1. Kevin Harvick 4/1             3rd        14th        2nd           6th 

2003 winner from the pole, 2010 runner-up, with 10.7 average in 14 starts; freaky fast again.

 2. Jimmie Johnson 7/1         2nd        11th       4th           12th 

Four-time winner, the last in 2012; consistent in all three practices, has look of winner. 

 3. Martin Truex Jr. 8/1        10th          7th        5th           13th 

One of most consistent on big horsepower tracks, including dominant win at Pocono last month.  

 4. Kasey Kahne 18/1           24th         3rd        8th           27th 

Led race-high 70 laps last year (sixth-place); best 10-consecutive lap average in final practice. 

 5. Jeff Gordon 12/1               4th          6th        23rd        19th 

Holds race record for wins (5), top-5 finishes (12), laps led (528); likely will be final Indy start.

 6. Jamie McMurray 30/1       8th         10th       24th         10th 

2010 winner and had the third-best 10-consecutive lap average during final practice.

 7. Brad Keselowski 12/1     14th         2nd       29th          31st 

Penske Racing has 16 Indy 500 wins, but none in NASCAR on bricks; he’ll be good on long runs.

 8. Kurt Busch 10/1                9th         24th        1st          14th 

Career-best fifth in track debut in 2001; also finished sixth in last years in Indy 500.

 9. Kyle Busch 10/1              11th        19th        6th            9th 

Runner-up last season and also 2012; gets high marks due to three wins in past four on season. 

10. Kyle Larson 20/1             19th         4th         3rd           5th 

Finished seventh in debut last season; spent the most time during practice working on long runs.

Note: NASCAR implemented a new rules package for this race where the spoiler has been raised up to nine inches to create more drag and slow the cars down on the long straightaways while creating more passing through the turns.

Super-trend: Chevrolet has won the past 12 races at Indy. 

Odds courtesy of Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook.

Micah Roberts is a former Las Vegas sports book director who has been setting NASCAR odds since 1994.

 

Brickyard Practice Notes: Hamlin and Junior fastest in first two sessions

Jimmie Johnson had a solid first two practice sessions at Indy.

After two 85-minute practice sessions run at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in preparation for Sunday’s Brickyard 400 (I don’t like Crown Royal’s demeaning title name used on the storied track), it’s clear that the additional three inches added to the spoiler has a drastic effect on the cars -- more so than I had anticipated coming into the week.

It's not quite the drastic change we saw with Kentucky's aero-package compared to the other 1.5-mile tracks, but it's certainly not the same as Pocono's set-up from last month, which I expected them to run similar to.

The top teams all look good, but we saw some teams like Michael Waltrip Racing’s duo of Clint Bowyer and David Ragan really get some things figured out in the second session while others such as Kyle Busch were having fits in radio conversations with his crew about how bad his car was.

Denny Hamlin was fastest in the early cooler session at 182.208 mph followed by the two favorites to win Sunday, Kevin Harvick (181.796) and Jimmie Johnson (181.756).

In the second session, Dale Earnhardt Jr. posted a top speed at 181.466 mph on his first of 13 laps run while Brad Keselowski just missed topping the charts (181.448) on the final of his 16 laps.

There was such a wild mix of drivers running in race trim and mock-qualifying trim at the same time like we haven’t seen all season. Kyle Busch’s 33 laps in the second session was the most while Jeff Gordon only ran five laps.

Only three drivers ran 10-consecutive laps in the second session led by Kyle Larson, who was also the only driver to run as many in a row during the early session.

There were a couple of incidents on the track with Paul Menard smacking the wall in the first session and Hamlin's hood flying open and slamming his windshield in the second session. Neither will go to back-up cars, but Hamlin used the hood from his back-up to replace the damaged one.

The final practice session will be Friday at 4:00 pm ET where all the teams will have 115-minutes to sort out their best set-ups. Qualifying is scheduled for Saturday at 1:10 pm ET.

Practice 1 Speeds

Practice 2 Speeds

Jamie McMurray on the new spoiler

Q: HAS THE SPOILER DONE WHAT YOU THOUGHT IT WOULD? OR DO YOU THINK THE CLOSING RATE IS GOING TO BE AS DRAMATICALLY DIFFERENT AS SOME PEOPLE THINK IT MIGHT BE? 


“Well, I think it’s really hard to give you an answer to that because we haven’t had a restart first off. And to me the restart is where this package is going to play a bigger role than in practice. The thing with practice is that as you start to catch the car in front of you, typically their car is not very good. So, when you see somebody catching you fairly quick you pull in so you can work on it and get your car better. I really haven’t been within 10 car lengths of anyone in front of me. The closest I was to anyone was behind (Greg) Biffle at the very start of practice. He pulled off the racetrack when I got within about 10 car lengths of him. I really don’t know. I haven’t gotten to feel the…you know they said like 100 and some horsepower drag advantage to the car in back. I haven’t been close enough to feel that yet. I honestly think until we get into the race on Sunday that it’s hard to get anyone’s true opinion on what we are going to have. To me on Sunday when you get two cars side-by-side with this package the guy in third is going to have an extra engine. It’s going to be crazy the amount of speed that he is going to have. I don’t know, the restarts are going to be pretty wild, I think.”


Aric Almirola on the new spoiler

Q: WHAT DID YOU THINK WITH THIS NEW HIGH DRAG PACKAGE YESTERDAY? 

“I thought we had more drag. We were going slower down the straightaway, which meant we were on throttle more in the corners. I think it’ll be interesting to see how the race plays out on Sunday. Anytime you go and drive your car by yourself you can kind of get the balance close and you can get an idea for what your car is going to drive like, but when the green flag drops for the race is when we’ll really be able to tell if it’s an improvement for the racing or not.”

Kyle Busch Fastest in NASCAR Sprint All-Star Practice, Keselowski Strong

By Micah Roberts

Jimmie Johnson's crew won the Pit Crew Challenge Thursday night (Getty)

Kyle Busch led the way with a fast lap of 188.337 mph in the only scheduled NASCAR All-Star practice session at Charlotte Motor Speedway. 20 cars participated with Brad Keselowski running the most laps (46) in the 85 minute session while also running the sixth fastest lap.

19 of the 20 cars used parts of the final 40 minutes for qualifying practice. When attempting a qualifying lap in the All-Star race, drivers have to make a pit stop during the lap. They must enter the pits at a speed limit, but they can rip out of their stalls as fast they can as part of their lap.

Needless to say, there is no need to really look at any average speeds. However, five and 10 consecutives lap run can be helpful but there still isn’t a large enough sample size. Keselowski led both of those categories during the session. Only five drivers ran at least 10 consecutive laps.

For some reason Jeff Gordon was the one driver who never made a qualifying lap attempt and will go on the fly in tonight’s qualifying. Gordon finished with the worst speed of all 20 drivers, apparently showing that they felt it was more important to get the car running well for Saturday than worrying about where they start.

It should come as no surprise that Greg Biffle had the second fastest lap (187.715) because of how well he ran at Charlotte’s sister tracks of Las Vegas (3rd) and Texas (Won). All-Star race favorite Jimmie Johnson finished runner-up in both of those races and had the 14th fastest lap (184.982).

I don't get as excited for the All-Star practices like I do for the other races because there really isn't much I can gain from it other than a few single lap times. However, I do look forward to tonight's qualifying (6 pm ET) just because it's an awesome spectacle, and most of all, different.

The Pit Crew Challenge also fits the bill as different and congratulations go out to the No. 48 team for the being the best last night, as if we needed a competition to know they were the best.


Top 5 All-Star practice 1 Speeds:
1. Kyle Busch 188.337 mph
2. Greg Biffle 187.715
3. Marcos Ambrose 187.207
4. Carl Edwards 186.948
5. Kevin Harvick 186.664
15. Regan Smith (Blown engine half way through practice)

Sprint All-Star Practice Speeds


Earnhardt Jr Fastest in Sprint Showdown Practice

Dale Earnhardt Jr may not need the fan vote if Friday’s lone Sprint Showdown practice is any indication of how he’ll run in the Saturdays night’s preliminary race. Junior can go a few different angles here: either save his car and know he’ll get in with the fan vote or try and show everyone he doesn’t need the vote and go for the win. Expect him to go all out and taste some type of victory lane.

AJ. Allemendinger had the second fastest speed (188.062) followed by Landon Cassill (187.931 mph), Bobby Labonte (187.852) and Martin Truex Jr (187.826).

Saturday’s Sprint Showdown looks to be a three-car race between Earnhardt Jr, Truex Jr and Allmendinger.

Top 5 Sprint Showdown Practice 1 Speeds:
1. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 188.114 mph
2. A.J. Allmendinger 188.062
3. Landon Cassill 187.931
4. Bobby Labonte 187.852
5. Martin Truex Jr. 186.826

Sprint Showdown Practice Speeds

California Practice Notes: Hamlin Strong Again, Fastest in Both Saturday Sessions

By Micah Roberts

Hamlin is sick-quick at Fontana (Getty)

Saturday’s final Auto Club 400 practice session was a complete weather change from the day’s earlier session, but the same driver dominated the speed charts. Denny Hamlin, with a lap of 182.034 mph, was fastest once again.

Hamlin’s speed was 4 mph slower than when he had the top speed in the first session, the differences due to the sun shining from behind the clouds. But it’s clear that no matter what kind of weather presents itself on race day -- either Sunday or Monday -- Hamlin’s crew will be prepared better than most.

The only thing standing in Hamlin’s way will be his past history on the track which has seen him finish at a 19.2 average with his only top-5 coming in 2008.

Coming in with the second fastest lap was Vallejo native Jeff Gordon at 181.132 mph. The three-time California winner had appeared to struggle with the clouds out in the previous session, but the team was able show fast consistent laps under the sunlight.

Clint Bowyer has the fourth fastest speed (181.132) with Jamie McMurray (181.132) and Kyle Busch (181.050) not far behind.

It’s no surprise to see El Cajon native Jimmie Johnson high on the charts with the sixth fastest lap since he’s the track’s all-time leader in just about everything. Not only did the five-time winner get his first career Cup win at California, but he also has finished third or better in eight of his last nine starts.

Another California kid, Kevin Harvick, continued his recent mastery of a track that initially gave him troubles. Harvick, who won this race last year and was runner-up the year prior, finished with the seventh fastest lap.

Matt Kenseth was eight fastest followed by Martin Truex Jr and Tony Stewart. Mark Martin had the 11th fastest lap and tied Jimmie Johnson with the most laps run during the session (47).

Kasey Kahne had the 14th fastest lap, but paced the day with the fastest average speeds, even though he ran 9 less laps than Hamlin who was second best.

Hamlin was also fastest in 10-consecutive average lap speeds followed by Kenseth, Busch, McMurray and Johnson.

Should be an interesting race whatever day the green flag eventually drops.

Top-5 Practice 3 Speeds:
1) Denny Hamlin 182.034 mph (35 laps for 176.923 average)
2) Jeff Gordon 181.360 (31 laps for 176.689 average)
3) Clint Bowyer 181.214 (37 laps for 176.805 average)
4) Jamie McMurray 181.132 (34 laps for 176.114 average)
5) Kyle Busch 181.050 (34 laps for 176.357 average)

Practice 3 Speeds - 10 lap Averages


Hamlin Dominates Second Practice Session

Hamlin has 19.2 average finish at Cali in 11 starts (Getty)

One day after capturing the pole for Sunday’s Auto Club 400 at California Speedway, Denny Hamlin laid down the fastest lap (186.018 mph) in race trim during Saturday’s first practice session. The speed was almost a full mph faster than Clint Bowyer had in Friday’s practice while in qualifying trim and fell just short of matching Hamlin’s top qualifying speed.

The reason for such fast speeds was because temperatures were in the high 50’s on an overcast foggy day. Some precipitation is expected today putting the final practice in jeopardy. Sunday’s race is also in jeopardy because there is an 80% chance of rain from noon to 9pm (PDT).

With the chance of rain being imminent, teams had to cram everything they could into this session because of the possibility that no final practice will be held.

Matt Kenseth, using a chassis the finished fourth at Texas last fall, ran the second fastest lap (185.209) and looks in great shape to possibly capture his fourth Fontana win.

The Stewart-Haas duo of Ryan Newman (184.928) and Tony Stewart (184.554) finished third and fourth fastest respectively with Kevin Harvick coming in with the fifth fastest speed (184.270 mph).

Most of the top speeds on the day were obtained at the beginning of the one-hour session with the coolest temperatures. Of the best 10 consecutive average laps run, the top-7 speeds all did so from lap 1-10 with Hamlin leading the way in that category as well, followed by Newman, Stewart, Clint Bowyer and Carl Edwards.

For Edwards, his strong day has to be a sigh of relief after struggling the last three weeks in practice. Along with the good average speeds, Edwards also had the eighth fastest single lap (183.636) using a car that finished second at Phoenix last fall.

Most of the cars that were supposed to be fast, were fast. However, with the chance that this race could run Monday (rain expected too) or Tuesday, the data obtained today won't rate in like-instances just because it won't be as cool.

Top-5 Practice 2 Speeds:
1) Denny Hamlin 186.018
2) Matt Kenseth 185.209
3) Ryan Newman 184.928
4) Tony Stewart 184.554
5) Kevin Havick 184.270

Note: Brad Keselowski radioed to his team after practice that his car is the best it's ever been at Fontana. In his three starts, he's finished 21st, 26th and 26th. However, he did have the seventh fastest single lap and also made the same claim last week before winning at Bristol.


Practice 2 Speeds - 10 Lap Averages



MWR's Bowyer and Martin Fastest in First Practice Session

Bowyer fastest in first practice (Getty)

Clint Bowyer jumped out early with the fastest lap of the first Auto Club 400 practice session at California Speedway in his first attempt. The lap of 185.109 mph was enough to hold on to the top speed despite another 85 minutes of practice from all the other drivers. 19 of the 46 drivers attempting to qualify this weekend followed suit with their fastest lap of the day coming in their first attempt.

The strategy for most teams was to get out early in qualifying trim before the track heated up in hopes of getting the top speed which designates when drivers will qualify today. The better their practice, the later they get to qualify and take advantage of a cooler surface in the late afternoon.

Michael Waltrip Racing’s fast cars weren’t limited to just Bowyer. Fresh off having all three of their cars finish in the top-5 at Bristol last week, they had the top two speeds in practice with Mark Martin laying down the second fastest lap of 184.322 mph at almost the same juncture Bowyer had his fastest lap. Martin Truex Jr finished with the 18th fastest lap.

Kasey Kahne was the lone exception among drivers in the top-6 who captured their fastest lap right out of the gate. Kahne had the third fastest speed (183.946), but did it on the last of his 16 laps run on the day. Following Kahne was Brad Kieslowski (183.290), Denny Hamlin (183.187) and Jeff Burton (183.169).

No driver ran 10 consecutive laps or more during the session as they will look to maximize their race set-ups in Saturday’s final two sessions. Friday’s qualifying is set to begin at 4:10 pm (PDT).

Top-5 Practice 1 Speeds:
1) Clint Bowyer 185.109
2) Mark Martin 184.322
3) Kasey Kahne 183.946
4) Brad Keselowski 183.290
5) Denny Hamlin 183.187

Practice 1 Speeds


Starting Lineup

Kyle Busch Fastest in the Only All-Star Practice Session; Ragan Tops Showdown Times

Kyle Busch fastest in the only All-Star practice session

It was Kyle Busch, with a lap speed of 188.403 mph, posting the fastest lap during the only NASCAR Sprint All-Star practice session at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Carl Edwards, with a lap speed of 187.084 mph, was second fastest, followed by Clint Bowyer (187.026) who was third fastest, Kasey Kahne (186.825) fourth fastest and Greg Biffle (186.780) was fifth fastest.

Rounding out the top-ten fastest in “Happy Hour” were Juan Pablo Montoya (186.355) who was sixth fastest, Jimmie Johnson (186.342) seventh, Denny Hamlin (185.957) eighth, Mark Martin (185.688) ninth and Regan Smith (185.516) was tenth fastest.

The teams will return to the track at 6:00 PM (EDT) this evening for their scheduled qualifying session, and then the cars will be impounded until Saturday night for the 9:00 PM (EDT) start of the Sprint All-Star race.

Top 5 All-Star Challenge Practice Speeds
#18-Busch 188.403
#99-Edwards 187.084
#33-Bowyer 187.026
#4-Kahne 186.825
#16-Biffle 186.780
slowest: #17-Kenseth 183.113 & #1-McMurray 183.811

Ragan Fastest in Sprint Showdown Practice

David Ragan, with a lap speed of 188.403 mph, posted the fastest lap in the only NASCAR Sprint Showdown practice session at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Second fastest with a lap speed of 187.780 mph, was Jeff Burton, followed by Paul Menard (187.526) who was third fastest, A.J. Allmendinger (186.987) fourth fastest and Marcos Ambrose (186.754) was fifth fastest.

Rounding out the top-ten fastest in “Happy Hour” were David Gilliland (186.612) who was sixth fastest, Martin Truex Jr. (186.355) seventh, Brad Keselowski (186.342) eighth, Travis Kvapil (185.586) ninth and Joey Logano (185.484) was tenth fastest.

Qualifying (where the lineup to go out is determined by how the drivers did in practice, and the fastest going out last) for Saturday’s NASCAR Sprint Showdown is scheduled get underway at 5:00 PM (EST) today.

Top 5 Sprint Showdown Practice Speeds
#6-Ragan 188.403
#31-Burton 187.780
#27-Menard 187.526
#43-Allmendinger 186.967
#9-Ambrose 186.754
#88-Earnhardt Jr. was 11th fastest
slowest: #92-Keselowski 177.410 & #64-Cope 178.506
Notes: #20-Logano lost an engine in practice.
The #46 team withdrew and driver J.J. Yeley will be in the #81 and Scott Riggs is not running the race, no idea why. (Jayski.com)

Complete List of Practice Times

Final Talladega Driver Ratings Following All Practice Sessions

Micah Roberts Top 10 Driver Ratings
Aaron’s 499
Talladega Superspeedway
Sunday, April 17, 2011 - 10:16 am (PDT)

Rating    Driver     Odds            Practice 1  Qualified  ‘Dega ’10*  Daytona 500**

 1. Kevin Harvick 13/2              11th            36th           2nd             42nd   
2010 spring winner with three runner-up finishes. Using same car from Daytona that led 22 laps.
 2. Clint Bowyer 15/1                18th            10th           1st              17th    
2010 fall winner with five of last six finishes inside top-12. Using winning car from last year.                            
 3. Kurt Busch 12/1                   13th            8th            30th             5th                                
Finished third on four occasions, 13.7 average finish in 20 starts. Using winning Bud Shootout car.
 4. Jeff Gordon 15/1                 15th             1st             8th              28th                          
Leads all active drivers with six wins, the last coming in 2007 when he swept the season.
 5. Jeff Burton 15/1                    6th             26th          41st             36th                            
Lots of bad luck in recent plate races, despite great cars. Using winning Gatorade Duel car.
 6. Jamie McMurray 15/1         36th           20th          36th             18th                                
2009 fall winner; three of his six career wins have come in plate races. Using Daytona chassis.
 7. Juan Montoya 30/1              38th            12th           3rd               6th                            
Finished third in both 2010 races; using his sixth-place Daytona 500 car from February.
 8. Kyle Busch 9/1                     3rd             32nd          25th              8th                      
His 2008 spring win remains his only top-five on the track in 12 starts. Using Daytona chassis.    
 9. Dale Earnhardt Jr 10/1        29th            4th            39th             24th                          
Five-time winner, the last coming in 2004. Runner-up in 2009, his only top-five since last win.
10. Denny Hamlin 15/1              8th             28th           9th               21st                              
Finished in top-10 of both 2010 races; career average finish of 18.3 in 10 starts.
                
 * Results from the February 20, 2011 race, a restrictor-plate race that featured two-car tandem racing as expected Sunday.

** Results from the October 31, 2010 Talladega race, the last race run there.

Note: The final practice session was cut short due to rain with only eight drivers attempting a lap.

Odds courtesy of the Las Vegas Hilton Super Book.

Micah Roberts, a former race and sports Director, has been setting NASCAR lines in Las Vegas since 1995. For more Roberts insights and post-practice analysis on the race, go to VegasInsider.com. 

Rain Shortened Final Talladega Practice, Stewart Fastest in First Session

It'll be windy Saturday, but racing should be good Sunday

Rains came early for the final NSCS Aaron’s 499 practice session at Talladega Superspeedway, as only 4 laps were run with Hendrick Motorsports’ Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin (both with 190.412 mph) posting the fastest lap.

Travis Kvapil was third fastest with a lap speed of 175.102 mph, followed by Denny Hamlin (158.344) fourth fastest, Joey Logano (156.786) fifth Michael McDowell (156.215) sixth, Brad Keselowski (153.649) seventh and Matt Kenseth rounding out the drivers accredited with timing/scoring before the rains fell.

Greg Biffle, Dave Blaney and Michael Waltrip were listed as getting on the track, but didn’t record any timing and scoring.

In the first practice session, Tony Stewart, with a lap speed of 194.239 mph, posted the fastest speed. Second fastest on the speed chart was Stewart’s SHR teammate, Ryan Newman, with a lap speed of 194.235 mph, and was followed by Jimmie Johnson (193.713) who was third fastest, Kyle Busch (193.713) fourth fastest and A.J. Allmendinger (193.080) who was the fifth fastest.

Rounding out the top-ten fastest were Jeff Burton (193.076) who was sixth fastest, Joey Logano (192.692) seventh, Denny Hamlin (192.684) eighth, David Gilliland and Landon Cassill both with 192.544 mph, are ninth and tenth fastest respectively.

The teams will return to the track on Saturday for their 11:30 AM (EST) scheduled qualifying session, and then won’t return again until Sunday for the Aaron’s 499, which is scheduled to get underway a little after 1:00 PM (EST).

Happy Hour practice: Rain started just minutes after the session ended. Only 8 drivers made it on track:
#24-Gordon 190.412
#5-Martin 190.412
#38-Kvapil 175.012
#11-Hamlin 158.344
#20-Logano 156.786
#66-McDowell 156.215
#2-Keselowski 153.649
#17-Kenseth 126.201

Top-5 First Friday practice:
#14-Stewart 194.239
#39-Newman 194.235
#48-Johnson 193.713
#18-Busch 193.713
#43-Allmendinger 193.080
slowest: #71-Lally 174.490 & #37-Raines 173.027. no speed: #66-McDowell.
notes: There was a brief caution 15 minutes in because of some rain showers. The session was extended for 10 minutes becuase of the threat of rain in the area. (Jayski.com)

Practice Speeds Page - Jayski.com


Driver Quotes From Friday Morning at Talladega

Who will be Bowyer's dancing partner Sunday?

CLINT BOWYER ON HOW WEATHER WILL AFFECT HIS PLANS ON WHO TO WORK WITH IF LOSING TIME IN PRACTICE? “You know, now that they have re-paved both of these racetracks, Talladega and Daytona, they are so smooth and the track surface is so perfect that now its just shape the best bullet you can and make it as fast as possible. Build as much horsepower that you can and the fastest car is going to be the right way to go. And it wasn’t always that way because you always had to handle and you had to suck up and do things and now all the wind tunnel time, the proving grounds time, all the testing that goes into these cars, they know where they need to be.

“You do need to go out and make sure your splitter is not on the ground and you are not dragging anything and other than that there is not much you do anyway so we will just get a few laps to get things going good and then its go-cat-go. We are ready to go and in Nationwide practice I went out and ran probably ten laps probably of pushing Kevin around and its the same car we ran at Daytona and this is the same car that we won with at Talladega so it certainly knows its way around here.”

CLINT BOWYER ON HOW EASY IT IS TO BE DISTRACTED BY ALL THE ADDITIONAL RADIO CHATTER AT A RACE LIKE THIS? “Well, in the past you were yelling at your spotter saying ‘go down to the 14 spotter and see if he will work with me or go down there……’ and you are at his mercy now. You can be able to flip over.

“To start the race and throughout the race the best case scenario is that I want one of my three RCR teammates working with me. But like in Daytona, my dancing partner was Jeff Burton all day and three quarters through the race he blew up and I find myself like, ‘what am I going to do now, and who am I going to find’. And I had to finish the race off of Kyle and we couldn’t communicate as good with one another the way we would have liked, and if we could have, the outcome could have been a lot better.”

“Its hard, but hopefully at the end of the day, you will have a restart or whatever else if that situation happens you will have time to find him on the radio. I guess you just go through and say, ‘is this Kyle?’ and they say, ‘No, get off my radio’. And you say, ‘hello, is this Kyle?’ and you just keep switching till you find him. But like I said, its going to be interesting at the end of this thing. I would say, it will be quite humorous.”

CLINT BOWYER ON HOW MANY DRIVERS WILL BE ON HIS RADIO: “I don’t know, I haven’t seen it. Like I said, I wish I could have everybody. Obviously your teammates are the most important, but it doesn’t matter who it is, if you find yourself with whoever, you need to be able to communicate with them and I wish there was a way they could make that happen for us.”

JEFF GORDON ON THE TWO CAR TANDEMS INSTEAD OF RACING IN PACKS: “Yeah, we saw a little bit of it the last time we were here but you are going to see it to the extreme now based on what we saw in Daytona. Talladega just has so much more room to race on and to draft on and to do these two-car drafts. I think it’s going to be fun. I’m excited but I know everybody has mixed emotions on the two-car draft but at a track like here at Talladega I think with everybody doing the two-car draft it ought to make it pretty exciting.”

KURT BUSCH ON POSSIBLE VISUAL PROBLEMS FROM THE TWO CAR DRAFT AT TALLADEGA COMPARED TO DAYTONA:“I think that it will be more difficult here because we’re going to have that many more lanes of traffic. When you’re pushing and you can’t see what’s in front of you. There’s now going to be five lanes of choices and you don’t know if you’re going to shoot for the middle hole or two-thirds of the way up or two-fifths of the way up. With five lanes to choose from, you really have to trust the guy in front of you to guide you through the different holes and not close in too quickly and make an abrupt move.”

Johnson adjusting to style of racing like everyone else.

JIMMIE JOHNSON ON ISSUES WITH TANDEM RACING: “It’s a totally different dynamic for us and we’re all adjusting as we can and filling our radios with other frequencies, trying to talk to guys in the garage area and seeing if someone will work with you. At the end of the day I think a lot of it just kind of takes care of itself because we all are aware of the fact that we need a partner and it really boils down to a restart and what lane you are in. In most cases the guy you’re pushing if you don’t come to pit road you’re gonna be in separate lanes and you might have built some type of report with the driver and now you’re lining up in different spots. It’s really tough to stick together and you can try and do some things maybe on restarts to get down in front of someone you want to work with but in general we all know the game. We all know it will be easier than it was in Daytona and from the minute practice opens up until the checkered falls we’ll be focused on pushing each other around the track. We’ll just work with it and see how we can do a better job as a team and make sure we miss the big wreck and try to win this thing.”

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA OF WHO HE WANTS TO TALK TO DURING THE RACE ON SUNDAY: “I get along ok with everybody. I have a really good relationship with Todd, my spotter and Brian (Pattie, crew chief). Sometimes it is funny because sometimes after a pit stop I will ask a question and they are looking at the tires and I get on the radio ‘Heeelllloooo, I’m here. Can somebody answer me?’ Generally its pretty good.”

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA ON TALKING WITH OTHER DRIVERS AND OTHER TEAMS DURING THE RACE? “Hell no! (LAUGHS) We did that with McMurray. The only person I really wanted to have on the radio is Jamie because that was focus, in the 500 that was the focus. I would assume as a team, we are going to do the same here. I’m not 100% sure. You plan so much and everything and I end up pushing Kurt Busch at the of the race. I don’t know. You plan everything and you get to a restart and the guy in front of you is a different guy. You can either go, there is always choices. You make a decision and sometimes you make the right ones and sometimes you make the wrong one. But, I always try to be very loyal. When I tell somebody I am going to be with them, I will be with them all the time. It seems to pay off because that way they know. You have to have a partner to work together.”

Roush Duo Up Front at Bristol; Edwards on Pole

BRISTOL, Tenn. (March 18, 2011) – Carl Edwards covered the .533-mile oval of “Thunder Road” at Bristol in 14.989 seconds (128.014 mph) to score Roush Fenway’s third consecutive pole in 2011 and Edwards’ second pole in four races.

“It’s unreal,” said Edwards. “I sure hope it keeps going. This is a lot of fun. The guys at the shop have done a great job on this Scotts EZ Seed Ford Fusion. Greg (Biffle) motivated me, as I didn’t think he would get that fast of a lap. I could not hear (crew chief) Bob (Osborne) on the radio so I thought I must be slow on the first lap and I drove my guts out on the second lap. Finally I saw the board. Just really happy, this is really cool.”

Edwards will be joined on the front row by teammate Greg Biffle to give the field an all Roush Fenway front row for Sunday’s Jeff Byrd 500 on Sunday.

David Ragan gives Roush Fenway three cars in the top five, after qualifying fifth in the session. Matt Kenseth will start 11th based on his qualifying effort.

The pole is Roush Fenway’s 10th in Bristol Sprint Cup action at Bristol and its 15th overall at BMS.

Sunday’s race is set for 1:13 p.m. EDT and will be televised live on FOX.

- Roush Fenway Racing, Press Release

Friday practice for the Jeff Byrd 500 Presented by Food City Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol Motor:
#99-Edwards 128.675
#48-Johnson 128.022
#16-Biffle 127.954
#4-Kahne 127.929
#27-Menard 127.826
slowest: #71-Lally 121.605 and #92-Setzer 123.459
incident: #4-Kahne got loose and tapped the wall with the right rear, doing slight damage. Late in practice, #22-Busch scraped the wall on the front stretch
qualifying order: qualifying order will be set how a driver practices, the top 35 first, slowest first to fastest, then the go-or-go homers after, slowest to fastest.

Bristol Practice Speeds

Kenseth Fastest in Final Vegas Practice, But Edwards, Biffle and Busch Look Better

By Micah Roberts
VegasInsider.com

Kenseth fastest in both practices and qualifying

The final practice session at Las Vegas Motor Speedway -- in preparation for Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 400 -- was and hour and 15 minutes long, but it only took the first three minutes to decide who was fastest on the day as Matt Kenseth laid down an early lap of 184.112 that no one could top. Kenseth is definitely fast, but as the temperature got hotter by the minutes, it made it tougher for anyone to top his speed.

The standouts of the session based on average speeds and laps run were Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart who put in four of the top five best averages. Kenseth finished sixth best on averages while A.J. Allmendinger, Martin Truex Jr and David Ruetimann also impressed.

The surprise of the session was the lack of speed shown by any of the ECR engines where drivers like Juan Pablo Montoya, Jamie McMurray, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer all struggled. The top performer of the crew, united by their engines, was Paul Menard who was fourth best in average speeds.

Two of the race favorites had mixed results with Jimmie Johnson 15th fastest with teammate Jeff Gordon coming in at 21st.

Top-5 Practice Speeds
#17-Kenseth 184.112
#18-Busch 183.717
#39-Newman 183.680
#99-Edwards 183.630
#16-Biffle 183.511
slowest: #66-McDowell 176.603 & #38-Kvapil 176.517
notes: #09-Elliott spun late but did not hit anything.

Final Practice Speeds