Erik Jones fastest in final NASCAR Cup practice before Coke 600
Erik Jones led the way in the final practice before Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Jones’ No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota topped the speed chart with an average lap speed of 187.045 mph in the 50-minute session on Saturday.
Saturday morning’s first practice was rained out.
Kyle Larson’s No. 42 Chevrolet was second (186.664 mph) while Ryan Blaney’s Ford was third (186.104 mph). Joey Logano was fourth and Jones’ JGR teammate, Denny Hamlin, completed the top-five.
Rounding out the Top 10 were Clint Bowyer, Kurt Busch, Paul Menard, Kasey Kahne and Jamie McMurray.
Logano ran the most laps (55) during the session.
As the session ended, NASCAR officials asked to notify Hamlin’s spotter to tell his driver to slow down as he entered and traveled through the garage area.
About 18 minutes into the session, Parker Kligerman spun off Turn 2 with a big plume of smoke but didn’t hit anything and the track remained green.
The teams of Kevin Harvick and J.J. Yeley both had to sit out the final 30 minutes of the 50-minute session because of NASCAR penalties. Yeley’s team was late to qualifying inspection on Friday and failed inspection twice.
Harvick’s No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford failed qualifying inspection three times on Friday. His car chief, Robert Smith, was also ejected for the weekend. He ended up 17-fastest with only 20 minutes on the track Saturday.
The teams of Aric Almirola, Kahne and Kligerman all had to sit out the final 15 minutes of practice for failing inspection twice on Friday.
Jones also had the fastest average lap speed of those drivers who ran at least 10 consecutive laps 9184.579 mph). Larson was second and Hamlin third in that category.
| Cla | # | Driver | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | Mph |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 |  Erik Jones | Toyota | 50 | 28.870 | 187.045 | ||
| 2 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 43 | 28.929 | 0.059 | 0.059 | 186.664 |
| 3 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 35 | 29.016 | 0.146 | 0.087 | 186.104 |
| 4 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 55 | 29.025 | 0.155 | 0.009 | 186.047 |
| 5 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 49 | 29.042 | 0.172 | 0.017 | 185.938 |
| 6 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 45 | 29.081 | 0.211 | 0.039 | 185.688 |
| 7 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Ford | 45 | 29.085 | 0.215 | 0.004 | 185.663 |
| 8 | 21 | Paul Menard | Ford | 35 | 29.117 | 0.247 | 0.032 | 185.459 |
| 9 | 95 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 26 | 29.167 | 0.297 | 0.050 | 185.141 |
| 10 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 40 | 29.178 | 0.308 | 0.011 | 185.071 |
| 11 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 46 | 29.185 | 0.315 | 0.007 | 185.027 |
| 12 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 43 | 29.188 | 0.318 | 0.003 | 185.008 |
| 13 | 24 | William Byron | Chevrolet | 49 | 29.205 | 0.335 | 0.017 | 184.900 |
| 14 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 42 | 29.211 | 0.341 | 0.006 | 184.862 |
| 15 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 30 | 29.219 | 0.349 | 0.008 | 184.811 |
| 16 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 33 | 29.219 | 0.349 | 0.000 | 184.811 |
| 17 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 21 | 29.228 | 0.358 | 0.009 | 184.754 |
| 18 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 39 | 29.238 | 0.368 | 0.010 | 184.691 |
| 19 | 43 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | Chevrolet | 37 | 29.272 | 0.402 | 0.034 | 184.477 |
| 20 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 51 | 29.281 | 0.411 | 0.009 | 184.420 |
| 21 | 19 |  Daniel Suarez | Toyota | 43 | 29.282 | 0.412 | 0.001 | 184.414 |
| 22 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 43 | 29.293 | 0.423 | 0.011 | 184.344 |
| 23 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 30 | 29.294 | 0.424 | 0.001 | 184.338 |
| 24 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Chevrolet | 41 | 29.366 | 0.496 | 0.072 | 183.886 |
| 25 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 32 | 29.425 | 0.555 | 0.059 | 183.517 |
| 26 | 47 | A.J. Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 32 | 29.426 | 0.556 | 0.001 | 183.511 |
| 27 | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Ford | 24 | 29.457 | 0.587 | 0.031 | 183.318 |
| 28 | 37 | Chris Buescher | Chevrolet | 33 | 29.460 | 0.590 | 0.003 | 183.299 |
| 29 | 38 | David Ragan | Ford | 30 | 29.546 | 0.676 | 0.086 | 182.766 |
| 30 | 6 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | 20 | 29.596 | 0.726 | 0.050 | 182.457 |
| 31 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Ford | 34 | 29.662 | 0.792 | 0.066 | 182.051 |
| 32 | 15 | Ross Chastain | Chevrolet | 22 | 29.740 | 0.870 | 0.078 | 181.574 |
| 33 | 96 | Parker Kligerman | Toyota | 16 | 29.846 | 0.976 | 0.106 | 180.929 |
| 34 | 72 | Corey Lajoie | Chevrolet | 22 | 30.008 | 1.138 | 0.162 | 179.952 |
| 35 | 00 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | 21 | 30.039 | 1.169 | 0.031 | 179.766 |
| 36 | 23 | Gray Gaulding | Toyota | 21 | 30.055 | 1.185 | 0.016 | 179.671 |
| 37 | 51 | B.J. McLeod | Chevrolet | 4 | 30.271 | 1.401 | 0.216 | 178.389 |
| 38 | 7 | J.J. Yeley | Chevrolet | 8 | 30.352 | 1.482 | 0.081 | 177.912 |
| 39 | 55 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Chevrolet | 17 | 30.528 | 1.658 | 0.176 | 176.887 |
| 40 | 66 | Timmy Hill | Toyota | 4 | 30.661 | 1.791 | 0.133 | 176.120 |
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About this article
| Series | NASCAR Cup |
| Event | Charlotte |
| Location | Charlotte Motor Speedway |
| Drivers | Erik Jones |
| Teams | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| Author | Jim Utter |
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