Practice Breakdown: Indianapolis – Brickyard 400

NASCAR scheduled three practices before qualifying this weekend, so that should give fantasy owners a bunch of data to go off of when finalizing their rosters before Sunday. Qualifying is set to be ran at 2:00 p.m. ET, and a link for those results will be available in my Predictions article, which should be posted an hour or two after the starting lineup is set. If you would like to read my preview for this year’s Brickyard 400, click here to head on over to OnPitRow.com. Also, don’t forget to read Ryan’s Scouting Report for Indianapolis to ensure that you are making the best fantasy picks this week.

Important Practice Notes: Denny Hamlin blew his engine in second practice and will start from the rear on Sunday. I have eliminated his practice speeds from first and second practice and Hamlin’s average speed is just from Saturday’s session. Kasey Kahne had a rear gear box (I think that what it was) go out in Happy Hour, but his team replaced that and Kahne went out and posted the 2nd-fastest lap of the session afterward.

The top five drivers in the first practice session (held on Friday) were:
1. Matt Kenseth – 181.203 mph
2. Kasey Kahne – 181.178 mph
3. Denny Hamlin – 181.050 mph
4. Carl Edwards – 180.658 mph
5. David Ragan – 180.404 mph
Complete rankings of practice one can be found by clicking here.

The five fastest drivers during the second practice session (Friday as well) were:
1. Greg Biffle – 178.310 mph
2. Martin Truex, Jr. – 178.172 mph
3. Jimmie Johnson – 177.669 mph
4. Casey Mears – 177.288 mph
5. Kevin Harvick – 177.249 mph
Complete rankings of this practice session can be found by clicking here.
In terms of ten-lap average, the fastest in the second Friday practice were:
1. Jeff Gordon – 174.536 mph
2. Paul Menard – 173.697 mph
3. Clint Bowyer – 173.317 mph
4. No other driver ran ten consecutive laps.
5. No other driver ran ten consecutive laps.

In Happy Hour–which happened before qualifying on Saturday–the five fastest drivers were:
1. Greg Biffle – 182.567 mph
2. Kasey Kahne – 182.441 mph
3. Kurt Busch – 181.829 mph
4. David Ragan – 181.800 mph
5. Carl Edwards – 181.514 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. Paul Menard – 177.414 mph
2. Brad Keselowski – 177.339 mph
3. Denny Hamlin – 177.317 mph
4. Clint Bowyer – 177.124 mph
5. Regan Smith – 177.057 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 Friday practice sessions combined with the Saturday practice speeds.

1.* Denny Hamlin at 176.503 mph over 45 laps
2. Kasey Kahne at 176.229 mph over 65 laps
3. Carl Edwards at 176.169 mph over 37 laps
4. Juan Montoya at 175.939 mph over 42 laps
5. Clint Bowyer at 175.910 mph over 51 laps
6. Greg Biffle at 175.834 mph over 61 laps
7. Tony Stewart at 175.793 mph over 53 laps
8. David Ragan at 175.865 mph over 60 laps
9. Kurt Busch at 175.747 mph over 60 laps
10. Brad Keselowski at 175.741 mph over 69 laps
11. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. at 175.610 mph over 57 laps
12. Kevin Harvick at 175.596 mph over 63 laps
13. Jeff Burton at 175.513 mph over 80 laps
14. Jimmie Johnson at 175.507 mph over 61 laps
15. Regan Smith at 175.465 mph over 65 laps
16. Matt Kenseth at 175.406 mph over 60 laps
17. Jamie McMurray at 175.345 mph over 56 laps
18. Ryan Newman at 175.333 mph over 58 laps
19. Kyle Busch at 175.257 mph over 59 laps
20. David Reutimann at 175.176 mph over 48 laps
21. Brian Vickers at 175.165 mph over 74 laps
22. Marcos Ambrose at 175.159 mph over 53 laps
23. Paul Menard at 175.118 mph over 73 laps
24. Mark Martin at 174.923 mph over 64 laps
25. Jeff Gordon at 174.825 mph over 72 laps
26. Martin Truex, Jr. at 174.529 mph over 58 laps
27. Landon Cassill at 174.353 mph over 50 laps
28. Bobby Labonte at 174.203 mph over 58 laps
29. Casey Mears at 173.999 mph over 43 laps
30. Joey Logano at 172.990 mph over 68 laps
31. A.J. Allmendinger at 172.931 mph over 63 laps
32. Dave Blaney at 172.793 mph over 37 laps
33. David Gilliland at 172.131 mph over 30 laps
34. Robby Gordon at 171.433 mph over 19 laps
35. Mike Bliss at 166.984 mph over 28 laps

* = Denny Hamlin ran 45 laps in Happy Hour with an average speed of 176.503 mph.

Go-or-Go-Homer’s Average Speeds:

1. Michael McDowell at 176.073 mph over 6 laps
2. Mike Skinner at 175.895 mph over 19 laps
3. J.J. Yeley at 174.706 mph over 17 laps
4. Scott Speed at 174.562 mph over 10 laps
5. Joe Nemechek at 174.397 mph over 13 laps
6. Erik Darnell at 173.892 mph over 17 laps
7. Trevor Bayne at 173.889 mph over 42 laps
8. David Stremme at 173.574 mph over 33 laps
9. Scott Wimmer at 173.224 mph over 12 laps
10. TJ Bell at 173.011 mph over 26 laps
11. Travis Kvapil at 172.423 mph over 33 laps
12.** Terry Labonte at 171.729 mph over 10 laps
13. Andy Lally at 171.223 mph over 28 laps

** = Terry Labonte will start the race no matter what due to the past champion’s provisional.