Average Practice Speeds: Kansas 2 – Hollywood Casino 400 (2012 Chase Race #6)
The Sprint Cup drivers got a whole bunch of track time this week on the newly repaved Kansas Speedway. There were tire tests on Wednesday and Thursday followed by an official practice session on Friday. Then qualifying was held, and Kasey Kahne won the pole for the Hollywood Casino 400. The full starting lineup can be found by clicking here. Finally, the Cup cars were back on the track for two additional practice sessions on Saturday, and those are the ones that I will be focusing on the most.
Important Practice Notes: 1st practice notes on Friday (click here). 2nd practice–first on Saturday–notes (click here). Happy Hour notes (click here).
Lots of unknowns at Kansas this week. Get the ifantasyrace advantage and get our analysis
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. Note: The chart below includes the speeds from the 2nd and final practice sessions of the weekend. The speeds from the first practice session on Friday included qualifying runs.
In the first practice session (Friday), the five fastest drivers were:
1. Greg Biffle – 191.313 mph
2. Joey Logano – 191.002 mph
3. Aric Almirola – 190.894 mph
4. Carl Edwards – 190.624 mph
5. Kasey Kahne – 190.590 mph
Click here for the complete results from this practice.
In the second practice session (first on Saturday), the quickest cars were:
1. Greg Biffle – 186.156 mph
2. Aric Almirola – 185.854 mph
3. Kasey Kahne – 185.727 mph
4. Matt Kenseth – 185.573 mph
5. Martin Truex, Jr. – 185.370 mph
Click here for the complete results from this practice.
In terms of ten-lap average, the top five for the second practice were:
1. Jimmie Johnson – 182.475 mph
2. Kevin Harvick – 181.703 mph
3. Casey Mears – 180.614 mph
4. No other driver completed ten consecutive laps.
5. No other driver completed ten consecutive laps.
Click here for the complete ten-lap average chart for the second practice.
In “Happy Hour”, the fast five were:
1. Matt Kenseth – 182.760 mph
2. Regan Smith – 182.550 mph
3. Jimmie Johnson – 182.543 mph
4. Kasey Kahne – 182.506 mph
5. Martin Truex, Jr. – 182.482 mph
Click here for the complete results from this practice.
When it came to ten-lap average, the best for Happy Hour were:
1. Mark Martin – 180.940 mph
2. Paul Menard – 180.483 mph
3. Clint Bowyer – 180.363 mph
4. Jimmie Johnson – 180.257 mph
5. Brad Keselowski – 180.147 mph
Click here for the complete ten-lap average chart for Happy Hour.
