Average Practice Speeds: Darlington – Bojangles Southern 500

All pre-race, on-track activity was held on Friday. Both practice sessions were held in the afternoon and qualifying is going on as I type this up. Where you start is really important at Darlington, so make sure you keep that in mind. All of these speeds were ran during the afternoon and the race is at night, so take them for what they’re worth.

Important Practice Notes: Many drivers got a “Darlington Stripe” in first practice, including (most notably) Jimmie Johnson and Martin Truex, Jr. The other drivers to make contact with the wall were Aric Almirola, David Gilliland, and Danica Patrick. Aric Almirola also spun early in that session, but didn’t hit anything. This will be updated later once I get a chance to watch my recording of Happy Hour.

In the first practice session, the five fastest drivers were:
1. Kevin Harvick – 177.090 mph
2. Greg Biffle – 176.290 mph
3. Kurt Busch – 175.993 mph
4. Carl Edwards – 175.760 mph
5. Tony Stewart – 175.647 mph
Click here for the complete results from this practice.

In terms of ten-lap average, the top five for first practice were:
1. Kyle Busch – 171.045 mph
2. Clint Bowyer – 170.201 mph
3. Carl Edwards – 170.067 mph
4. Kevin Harvick – 169.918 mph
5. Mark Martin – 169.884 mph
Click here for the complete ten-lap average chart for practice one.

In “Happy Hour”, the fast five were:
1. A.J. Allmendinger – 175.022 mph
2. Greg Biffle – 174.730 mph
3. Carl Edwards – 174.099 mph
4. Jimmie Johnson – 174.087 mph
5. Travis Kvapil – 173.626 mph
Click here for the complete results from this practice.

When it came to ten-lap average, the best for Happy Hour were:
1. Denny Hamlin – 170.437 mph
2. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 170.136 mph
3. Jimmie Johnson – 170.111 mph
4. Kurt Busch – 170.084 mph
5. Regan Smith – 169.654 mph
Click here for the complete ten-lap average chart for Happy Hour.

 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.