Practice Through Qualifying
The pole time set by Denny Hamlin was a new track record by .15 seconds and he ran .9 seconds faster than he did in practice on Friday. The qualifying runs were made in single-car two-timed-lap runs in a single round. Cars will be impounded after qualifying and so there are only a few things the teams can do to the cars between now and the race.
Final Practice for Drydene 400
Dover International Speedway
Friday, October 4th 3:35 pm ET
50 minutes in length
Weather
73 degrees and 17 mph NW winds
Penalized Drivers
No drivers were penalized for this session.
Top-20 Speeds (single lap)
Best Lap Averages
Items of Note:
- Early in the session, the 24-car looked to be the most stable in the center of the corner in Turns 1 and 2.
- Ty Dillon said he has a tighter landing in Turn 3 than he’d like and that’s slowing down his drive off.
- Kurt Busch is still staying that he is getting tighter as they go on multiple lap runs.
- Alex Bowman is complaining of tightness in the center of the corner.
- Jimmie Johnson said he’s struggling with entry and it’s not getting off as fast as he wants.
- Kyle Larson says his car only stays neutral for a little bit before turning tight in the middle of the run.
- Alex Bowman finished 2nd at all three tracks in the second round of the playoffs earlier this year.
- The driver that gets the first pit stall at Dover has a huge advantage in pit road timing since the final timing line is just in front of the pit stall.
- There are several drivers that are still having trouble finding the balance in the back end of the car in the exit of the corners.
- Kurt Busch said he has the same amount of tightness in the car everywhere through a lap as he has been the whole time.
- The entrance to pit road is blind and very tight so you actually have to start slowing down in the entrance of Turn 3 to make it comfortably.
- Kyle Busch is still having the balance issues with the car that he had in the first session and is 18th quick on the single lap speeds with just under half the practice left.
- Joey Logano is 11th in speed with 16 minutes left and is missing from the top five and 10-lap averages but has run 47 laps in a series of shorter runs.
- Goodyear is really watching the tires carefully since the corner speeds are so high and drivers can run 100-lap runs during the race the force on the tires is higher.
- Jimmie Johnson has run in the top-five of five-lap, 10-lap, and 15 lap averages in this session.
- Drivers have been experimenting with a few different lines later in the session.
- The most common complaint from drivers is that there cars are tight in the center of the corner.
- Chase Elliott wound up running 58 laps by the end of practice which was actually on the lower end of the amounts run.
Opening Practice for Drydene 400
Dover International Speedway
Friday, October 4th 1:35 pm ET
50 minutes in length
Weather
74 degrees and 17 mph NW winds
Penalized Drivers
No drivers were penalized for this session.
Top-20 Speeds (single lap)
Best Lap Averages
Items of Note:
- Very early in the session, Chase Elliott is able to go full throttle nearly all the way around and hit 172 mph on the front stretch heading into turn 1
- Denny Hamlin said that having enough air in the tires in the start of the run is the biggest issue because he can’t go into Turn 3 carrying as much speed as he wants without shooting up the racetrack right now.
- Kyle Larson says he doesn’t have the initial throttle on entry he wants and it’s a bit free off the corners. He also said the wheel needs to be adjusted so the steering responds the way he wants.
- Several drivers have issues with pit road speed at the moment.
- In the center of the corners this year, early in practice, they are travelling 15 mph faster through the corners compared to last year’s speeds.
- Denny Hamlin is starting his 500th Cup race this week and it’s the only track he’s never won at before in the Cup series. He is complaining his car is tight and he feels that the steering is slow, at the moment.
- Drivers are practicing going on the outside to get around other cars.
- Kurt Busch says his car is a bit too loose in Turn 3 and a bit loose off when he gets back on the throttle but it’s improving over his first run.
- Denny Hamlin says he feels like he has less rear stability now than he did in the earlier runs.
- A couple of drivers are trying to go very low in the Turns 3 and 4 but missing and hitting the apron which is making the car get unstable and loose.
- Kyle Busch is only showing middling speed to this point and isn’t completely happy with his car.
- Alex Bowman says his car is having trouble staying stuck to the bottom of the corners and he just can’t hold the speed he wants to.
- New tires are helping drivers diamond the corners which is allowing for faster lap times earlier in the run.
- A lot of drivers are going for mock qualifying runs late in the first session
- Kyle Larson says he was way tighter on exit after the latest round of adjustments.
- William Byron says his car gets tight late and it feels like the front left is on the track a bit.
- Elliott and Bowman are the only two drivers to finish in the top-10 in all three playoff races.
- Ryan Blaney said he made a few race runs and a qualifying run but couldn’t make another race run because they flat spot a front tire and couldn’t make a long run on it. He said the track has really rubbered up since the start of the session.