Practice Breakdown: Bristol (Jeff Byrd 500)

Finally we’re back to racing this week. The Sprint Cup series drivers had one practice on Friday afternoon–where most worked on qualifying trim–and then qualified a couple of hours later. Results of qualifying can be found by clicking here. On Saturday, two practice sessions were held, with all of the drivers dialing in their cars for the race on Sunday. The average practice speeds (shown below) is the cumulative total of all three practice sessions. In parenthesis, I will list each drivers’ overall rank in the final two combined practice sessions, as well as their rank in each practice session.

Important Practice Notes: Kasey Kahne hit the wall early in first practice, but damage was minimal. Kurt Busch also hit the wall in that practice session. It was a pretty hard lick but I’m not sure how much it will affect the car. Also in first practice, Regan Smith and Andy Lally had tempers flare, but I’m not sure of the damage either car got (if any). In second practice, Travis Kvapil and Kyle Busch found the wall, but nothing major for Rowdy (not sure on Kvapil).

First practice (held on Friday before qualifying) shook out like this:
1. Carl Edwards – 128.675 mph
2. Jimmie Johnson – 128.022 mph
3. Greg Biffle – 127.954 mph
4. Kasey Kahne – 127.929 mph
5. Paul Menard – 127.826 mph
Complete practice 1 speeds can be found by clicking here.
The top five drivers in ten-lap average during this practice session were:
1. Marcos Ambrose – 121.061 mph
2. Andy Lally – 119.115 mph
3. No other cars ran ten consecutive laps.
4. No other cars ran ten consecutive laps.
5. No other cars ran ten consecutive laps.

The top five drivers in the first practice session on Saturday were:
1. Tony Stewart – 124.889 mph
2. David Reutimann – 124.678 mph
3. Mark Martin – 124.638 mph
4. Jamie McMurray – 124.460 mph
5. Kurt Busch – 124.452 mph
Complete rankings of this practice can be found by clicking here.
The top five drivers in ten-lap average during this session were:
1. Mark Martin – 123.248 mph
2. Jamie McMurray – 123.155 mph
3. Ryan Newman – 123.121 mph
4. David Ragan – 123.091 mph
5. Joey Logano – 122.924 mph

The top five drivers in the Happy Hour were:
1. Mark Martin – 124.018 mph
2. Brian Vickers – 123.523 mph
3. Denny Hamlin – 123.475 mph
4. Joey Logano – 123.245 mph
5. Tony Stewart – 123.237 mph
Complete rankings in Happy Hour can be found by clicking here.
The top five drivers in ten-lap average during Happy Hour were:
1. Denny Hamlin – 122.237 mph
2. Joey Logano – 122.111 mph
3. Paul Menard – 121.905 mph
4. Tony Stewart – 121.837 mph
5. Juan Montoya – 121.658 mph

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. The order that they are in is the overall average speeds rank (using all three practices) and in parenthesis you will find their ranking (in terms of average speed) in the two Saturday practices (combined), as well as their rank in each individual practice on Saturday.

Please note: Some drivers didn’t choose to use the new tires until Happy Hour. Will that make a difference in these speeds? I’m not sure. I don’t have the information to check speeds from when they had the new tires compared to the old tires, so that is why I decided to include all of the rankings. Jimmie Johnson, for example, didn’t put the new tires on until the end of Happy Hour, when the rubber was built up on the racetrack.

1. Jimmie Johnson @ 122.281 mph over 118 laps (1st on Saturday, 11th in second practice, 2nd in Happy Hour)
2. J.J. Yeley @ 121.826 mph over 41 laps (6th on Saturday, 37th in second practice, 1st in Happy Hour)
3. Joe Nemechek @ 121.583 mph over 34 laps (42nd on Saturday, 42nd in second practice, DNP in Happy Hour)
4. Kevin Harvick @ 121.558 mph over 98 laps (2nd on Saturday, 1st in second practice, 10th in Happy Hour)
5. Martin Truex, Jr. @ 121.405 mph over 127 laps (5th on Saturday, 4th in second practice, 5th in Happy Hour)
6. Brad Keselowski @ 120.996 mph over 138 laps (3rd on Saturday, 21st in second practice, 4th in Happy Hour)
7. Matt Kenseth @ 120.972 mph over 98 laps (9th on Saturday, 17th in second practice, 7th in Happy Hour)
8. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. @ 120.966 mph over 119 laps (14th on Saturday, 28th in second practice, 9th in H.H.)
9. Tony Stewart @ 120.936 mph over 151 laps (7th on Saturday, 16th in second practice, 6th in Happy Hour)
10. Denny Hamlin @ 120.912 mph over 153 laps (4th on Saturday, 27th in second practice, 3rd in Happy Hour)
11. David Reutimann @ 120.912 mph over 151 laps (8th on Saturday, 6th in second practice, 13th in Happy Hour)
12. Joey Logano @ 120.897 mph over 167 laps (11th on Saturday, 9th in second practice, 11th in Happy Hour)
13. Carl Edwards @ 120.790 mph over 77 laps (22nd on Saturday, 2nd in second practice, 26th in Happy Hour)
14. Clint Bowyer @ 120.757 mph over 93 laps (16th on Saturday, 7th in second practice, 24th in Happy Hour)
15. Bobby Labonte @ 120.715 mph over 147 laps (10th on Saturday, 20th in second practice, 14th in Happy Hour)
16. Robby Gordon @ 120.666 mph over 72 laps (33rd on Saturday, 33rd in second practice, 29th in Happy Hour)
17. David Ragan @ 120.659 mph over 163 laps (15th on Saturday, 8th in second practice, 25th in Happy Hour)
18. Juan Montoya @ 120.651 mph over 131 laps (18th on Saturday, 18th in second practice, 23rd in Happy Hour)
19. Kasey Kahne @ 120.627 mph over 117 laps (19th on Saturday, 24th in second practice, 16th in Happy Hour)
20. Kurt Busch @ 120.619 mph over 164 laps (13th on Saturday, 19th in second practice, 15th in Happy Hour)
21. Paul Menard @ 120.596 mph over 118 laps (24th on Saturday, 29th in second practice, 17th in Happy Hour)
22. Jeff Burton @ 120.592 mph over 140 laps (20th on Saturday, 3rd in second practice, 31st in Happy Hour)
23. Mark Martin @ 120.585 mph over 124 laps (21st on Saturday, 14th in second practice, 21st in Happy Hour)
24. Ryan Newman @ 120.520 mph over 174 laps (12th on Saturday, 12th in second practice, 12th in Happy Hour)
25. Kyle Busch @ 120.403 mph over 176 laps (23rd on Saturday, 23rd in second practice, 22nd in Happy Hour)
26. David Gilliland @ 120.354 mph over 100 laps (17th on Saturday, 25th in second practice, 8th in Happy Hour)
27. Marcos Ambrose @ 120.351 mph over 153 laps (27th on Saturday, 13th in second practice, 28th in H.H.)
28. Regan Smith @ 120.274 mph over 114 laps (30th on Saturday, 5th in second practice, 30th in Happy Hour)
29. Jeff Gordon @ 120.202 mph over 125 laps (26th on Saturday, 15th in second practice, 18th in Happy Hour)
30. A.J. Allmendinger @ 120.158 mph over 125 laps (29th on Saturday, 30th in second practice, 33rd in H.H.)
31. Jamie McMurray @ 120.149 mph over 127 laps (25th on Saturday, 22nd in second practice, 27th in H.H.)
32. Casey Mears @ 120.101 mph over 95 laps (32nd on Saturday, 31st in second practice, 35th in Happy Hour)
33. Brian Vickers @ 120.031 mph over 160 laps (28th on Saturday, 32nd in second practice, 19th in Happy Hour)
34. Greg Biffle @ 119.926 mph over 137 laps (31st on Saturday, 10th in second practice, 34th in Happy Hour)
35. Tony Raines @ 119.546 mph over 69 laps (34th on Saturday, 39th in second practice, 20th in Happy Hour)
36. Michael McDowell @ 119.463 mph over 67 laps (38th on Saturday, 35th in second practice, 40th in H.H.)
37. Landon Cassill @ 119.435 mph over 80 laps (36th on Saturday, 34th in second practice, 37th in Happy Hour)
38. Dave Blaney @ 119.361 mph over 69 laps (35th on Saturday, 38th in second practice, 32nd in Happy Hour)
39. Trevor Bayne @ 119.168 mph over 160 laps (37th on Saturday, 26th in second practice, 36th in Happy Hour)
40. Travis Kvapil @ 118.700 mph over 92 laps (39th on Saturday, 36th in second practice, 38th in Happy Hour)
41. Bill Elliott @ 117.711 mph over 116 laps (41st on Saturday, 40th in second practice, 41st in Happy Hour)
42. Andy Lally @ 116.769 mph over 170 laps (40th on Saturday, 41st in second practice, 39th in Happy Hour)
43. Dennis Setzer @ 116.390 mph over 44 laps (43rd on Saturday, DNP in second practice, 42nd in Happy Hour)