Practice Breakdown: Loudon (Lenox Industrial Tools 301)

This week the Sprint Cup Series assumed it’s ‘regular’ schedule, with one practice session being held before qualifying on Friday, and then two more practices being ran on Saturday. When I calculated average speeds (found below), I completely disregarded the Friday practice sessions because teams were working on qualifying runs as well as race runs, while the two Saturday practices were ran–I assume–with all cars in race trim.  “The Rocketman” Ryan Newman edged his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate and owner, “Smoke” Tony Stewart, for his first pole of the season on Friday. You can find the complete starting lineup by clicking here. Also, in case you would like to read my preview from earlier this week, all you have to do is click here. My Predictions for the race will return this week, so be sure to head back to www.ifantasyrace.com before finalizing your fantasy rosters.

Important Practice Notes: My cable was out so I didn’t get a chance to actually watch the practices, but I couldn’t find any noteworthy happenings.

The top five drivers in the first practice session (held on Friday) were:
1. Clint Bowyer – 134.212 mph
2. Tony Stewart – 134.103 mph
3. Ryan Newman – 133.778 mph
4. A.J. Allmendinger – 133.741 mph
5. Paul Menard – 133.562 mph
Complete rankings of practice one can be found by clicking here.

The five fastest drivers during the second practice session (first on Saturday) were:
1. Tony Stewart – 129.169 mph
2. Clint Bowyer – 129.156 mph
3. Brad Keselowski – 129.151 mph
4. Jeff Gordon – 128.976 mph
5. Martin Truex, Jr. – 128.972 mph
Complete rankings of this practice session can be found by clicking here.
In terms of ten-lap average, the fastest in the first Saturday practice were:
1. Clint Bowyer – 128.241 mph
2. Tony Stewart – 128.287 mph
3. Jeff Burton – 128.239 mph
4. Jeff Gordon – 128.079 mph
5. Denny Hamlin – 128.052 mph

In Happy Hour, the five fastest drivers were:
1. Jimmie Johnson – 129.591 mph
2. Juan Montoya – 129.292 mph
3. Ryan Newman – 129.278 mph
4. Jeff Burton – 129.169 mph
5. Brad Keselowski – 129.156 mph
Complete rankings of this practice can be found by clicking here.
In terms of ten-lap average, the following were fastest in Happy Hour:
1. Jimmie Johnson – 128.755 mph
2. Jeff Burton – 128.669 mph
3. Joey Logano – 128.463 mph
4. Jeff Gordon – 128.094 mph
5. Juan Montoya – 128.042 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 of the two Saturday practice sessions combined with the Friday practice speeds being thrown out.

1. Kevin Harvick at 127.730 mph over 64 laps
2. Jeff Gordon at 127.618 mph over 94 laps
3. Jeff Burton at 127.602 mph over 100 laps
4. Martin Truex, Jr. at 127.490 mph over 70 laps
5. Kurt Busch at 127.460 mph over 76 laps
6. Jimmie Johnson at 127.423 mph over 100 laps
7. Kasey Kahne at 127.392 mph over 76 laps
8. Carl Edwards at 127.364 mph over 56 laps
9. Ryan Newman at 127.328 mph over 96 laps
10. Clint Bowyer at 127.321 mph over 86 laps
11. Joey Logano at 127.311 mph over 74 laps
12. Denny Hamlin at 127.281 mph over 82 laps
13. Paul Menard at 127.221 mph over 78 laps
14. A.J. Allmendinger at 127.217 mph over 81 laps
15. Marcos Ambrose at 127.181 mph over 82 laps
16. Brad Keselowski at 127.099 mph over 97 laps
17. Mark Martin at 127.085 mph over 90 laps
18. Regan Smith at 127.081 mph over 78 laps
19. Juan Montoya at 127.063 mph over 67 laps
20. Bobby Labonte at 127.062 mph over 70 laps
21. Greg Biffle at 127.047 mph over 73 laps
22. Tony Stewart at 127.038 mph over 105 laps
23. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. at 127.037 mph over 84 laps
24. Jamie McMurray at 127.030 mph over 56 laps
25. Brian Vickers at 127.016 mph over 81 laps
26. Kyle Busch at 126.902 mph over 71 laps
27. David Ragan at 126.883 mph over 94 laps
28. David Reutimann at 126.855 mph over 78 laps
29. Matt Kenseth at 126.851 mph over 68 laps
30. Casey Mears at 126.561 mph over 34 laps
31. Dave Blaney at 126.087 mph over 46 laps
32. Landon Cassill at 125.965 mph over 75 laps
33. Mike Bliss at 125.462 mph over 60 laps
34. Scott Wimmer at 125.454 mph over 36 laps
35. David Gilliland at 125.381 mph over 49 laps

Go-or-Go-Homer’s Average Speeds:

1. Michael McDowell at 127.039 mph over 14 laps
2. Jeff Green at 126.811 mph over 19 laps
3. J.J. Yeley at 126.331 mph over 61 laps
4. David Stremme at 125.762 mph over 42 laps
5. Joe Nemechek at 125.663 mph over 11 laps
6. Mike Skinner at 125.492 mph over 38 laps
7. Andy Lally at 125.052 mph over 71 laps
8. Erik Darnell at 124.930 mph over 21 laps