Average Practice Speeds: Daytona 2 – Coke Zero 400

As I say every time the Sprint Cup Series visits a restrictor plate tracks, practice times are pretty much worthless and qualifying is even more useless. With that being said, I still post these average speeds because I like to use them as a “tiebreaker” of sorts if I am stuck between two drivers. Instead of focusing on the numbers this week, I’d listen to how the drivers are talking about their cars. I also use momentum as a factor when making my fantasy rosters (which you will see when I post my Predictions post this weekend). There were two practice sessions on Thursday afternoon and qualifying will start around 4:00 pm on Friday.

Important Practice Notes: Denny Hamlin didn’t participate in either practice session due to a sore back. Instead, Kyle Busch took the #11 Toyota around a few laps just to make sure it was good to go. Jimmie Johnson had his throttle stick but said his team fixed it pretty quick. During Happy Hour, only about half of the teams participated, similar to Talladega earlier this year.

 Average Practice Speeds:

Average practice speeds are calculated by taking the average speed of each driver in each practice and multiplying it by the number of laps ran. When you do this for each practice and add the  totals together, and then divide by the total number of laps ran, you get an average of their practice speed, instead of just the one lap statistic you see when you look at practice sheets. I have found over the years that this is much more accurate as to whether or not someone has a car that is good for one lap or one that can consistently be fast. These numbers, however, can be skewed if a team puts new tires on frequently or rarely changes the tires. Those marked in red did not participate in Happy Hour.

In the first practice session, the five fastest drivers were:
1. Aric Almirola – 201.961 mph
2. Marcos Ambrose – 201.374 mph
3. Joey Logano – 201.122 mph
4. Ryan Newman – 201.068 mph
5. Greg Biffle – 200.933 mph
Click here for the complete results from this practice.

In terms of ten-lap average, the top five for first practice were:
1. Jamie McMurray – 196.909 mph
2. A.J. Allmendinger – 196.827 mph
3. Juan Montoya – 196.768 mph
4. Marcos Ambrose – 196.766 mph
5. Matt Kenseth – 196.720 mph
Click here for the complete ten-lap average chart for practice one.

In “Happy Hour”, the fast five were:
1. Jamie McMurray – 197.837 mph
2. Michael Waltrip – 197.733 mph
3. Kurt Busch – 197.459 mph
4. Travis Kvapil – 197.425 mph
5. Aric Almirola – 197.416 mph
Click here for the complete results from this practice.

When it came to ten-lap average, the best for Happy Hour were:
1. Michael Waltrip – 195.192 mph
2. Jeff Gordon – 195.118 mph
3. Carl Edwards – 195.079 mph
4. Aric Almirola – 195.001 mph
5. Juan Montoya – 194.702 mph
Click here for the complete ten-lap average chart for Happy Hour.