Average Practice Speeds: Phoenix 2 – Advocare 500 (2012 Chase Race #9)

Phoenix was re-configured and re-paved during the 2011 season and this Sunday’s Advocare 500 will be just the third event on the new surface. The Cup cars were on track for two different sessions on Saturday, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Happy Hour was the practice that had the conditions closest to what the race will be like, in my opinion. Tires aren’t falling off at all this weekend so that’s something to consider as well. Kyle Busch won the pole for Sunday’s race, and the full starting lineup can be found by clicking here.

Important Practice Notes: 1st practice notes on Friday (click here). 2nd practice–first on Saturday–notes (click here). Happy Hour notes (click here).

Desperate fantasy racers do desperate things. Smart fantasy racers get the ifantasyrace advantage and take (or extend) the lead in their league.

 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.