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.
Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Camry FedEx Express
Rusty Jarrett / NKP / Motorsport Images
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 | # | Driver | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | Mph |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 11 | 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 | Daniel Suarez | Toyota | 5 | 28.585 | 0.184 | 0.023 | 188.910 |
8 | 78 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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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