Practice report

NASCAR Cup Charlotte

Denny Hamlin fastest in Thursday's lone Coke 600 practice

Denny Hamlin powered to the top of the speed chart near the conclusion of Thursday’s lone Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice session.

Jim Utter

Edited: May 24, 2018, 7:50 PM

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Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski had led the way most of the 50-minute session at Charlotte Motor Speedway until Hamlin’s late flyer lap.

Hamlin’s average lap speed of 190.134 mph was the only one to top the 190 mph barrier. Blaney ended up second (189.673 mph) and Keselowski third (189.434 mph).

Hamlin has never won a points race at Charlotte but did start on the pole for last October’s 500-mile event. He finished twice in both the 600 and the 500 in the 2012 season.

“From a handling standpoint, you have to build a lot of adjustability in the car (for the 600). The race starts during the afternoon and goes into the night, so the track will see big changes in terms of grip and handling,” Hamlin said.

“The first half of the race, you just try to keep enough speed to stay on the lead lap during the long green flag runs, knowing that you want your car to be at its best when the sun goes down for those last 100 or 150 laps.”

Austin Dillon was fourth-fastest in a Chevrolet and Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Erik Jones, completed the top-five.

Rounding out the Top 10 were Chase Elliott, Daniel Suarez, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Larson and Aric Almirola bolted to the 10th spot right before the conclusion of practice.

Kevin Harvick, who won last weekend’s All-Star Race at Charlotte, was 14th fastest.

Ten teams had to sit out 15 minutes of Friday’s session.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Matt DiBenedetto, A.J. Allmendinger and Kasey Kahne had to sit out for failing pre-race inspection twice at Kansas; Austin Dillon, Harvick, Suarez, David Ragan and Jimmie Johnson sat out for failing inspection twice at the All-Star Race; and Ross Chastain had to sit for missing a rookie meeting.

Cla#DriverManufacturerLapsTimeGapIntervalMph 1 11 united_states Denny Hamlin Toyota 5 28.401 190.134 2 12 Ryan Blaney Ford 5 28.470 0.069 0.069 189.673 3 2 Brad Keselowski Ford 5 28.506 0.105 0.036 189.434 4 3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 7 28.509 0.108 0.003 189.414 5 20 Erik Jones Toyota 4 28.532 0.131 0.023 189.261 6 9 Chase Elliott Chevrolet 3 28.562 0.161 0.030 189.062 7 19 mexico Daniel Suarez Toyota 5 28.585 0.184 0.023 188.910 8 78 united_states Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 5 28.590 0.189 0.005 188.877 9 42 Kyle Larson Chevrolet 6 28.596 0.195 0.006 188.838 10 10 Aric Almirola Ford 6 28.653 0.252 0.057 188.462 11 24 William Byron Chevrolet 10 28.680 0.279 0.027 188.285 12 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 4 28.685 0.284 0.005 188.252 13 95 united_states Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 7 28.686 0.285 0.001 188.245 14 4 Kevin Harvick Ford 3 28.702 0.301 0.016 188.140 15 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 5 28.726 0.325 0.024 187.983 16 31 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 5 28.736 0.335 0.010 187.918 17 14 Clint Bowyer Ford 4 28.738 0.337 0.002 187.905 18 37 united_states Chris Buescher Chevrolet 7 28.739 0.338 0.001 187.898 19 22 Joey Logano Ford 5 28.774 0.373 0.035 187.669 20 41 Kurt Busch Ford 5 28.797 0.396 0.023 187.520 21 88 Alex Bowman Chevrolet 6 28.798 0.397 0.001 187.513 22 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 3 28.803 0.402 0.005 187.480 23 47 united_states A.J. Allmendinger Chevrolet 5 28.825 0.424 0.022 187.337 24 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 5 28.886 0.485 0.061 186.942 25 13 Ty Dillon Chevrolet 6 28.964 0.563 0.078 186.438 26 34 Michael McDowell Ford 7 28.984 0.583 0.020 186.310 27 6 Matt Kenseth Ford 7 28.987 0.586 0.003 186.290 28 96 united_states Parker Kligerman Toyota 5 29.032 0.631 0.045 186.002 29 21 Paul Menard Ford 5 29.040 0.639 0.008 185.950 30 43 Darrell Wallace Jr. Chevrolet 6 29.058 0.657 0.018 185.835 31 38 David Ragan Ford 5 29.101 0.700 0.043 185.561 32 32 Matt DiBenedetto Ford 7 29.310 0.909 0.209 184.237 33 15 united_states Ross Chastain Chevrolet 3 29.666 1.265 0.356 182.027 34 72 Corey Lajoie Chevrolet 8 29.743 1.342 0.077 181.555 35 23 Gray Gaulding Toyota 3 29.939 1.538 0.196 180.367 36 55 Jeffrey Earnhardt Chevrolet 10 30.159 1.758 0.220 179.051 37 00 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 8 30.207 1.806 0.048 178.767 38 7 united_states J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 5 30.341 1.940 0.134 177.977 39 66 Timmy Hill Toyota 2 30.407 2.006 0.066 177.591 40 51 B.J. McLeod Chevrolet 8 30.533 2.132 0.126 176.858

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