Phoenix (ISM Raceway) NASCAR Happy Hour Practice Notes

Paul Menard – Backed his car into the wall at the end of practice. He’ll be going to a backup car and will start in the rear of the field. He’ll be scored from his 11th place qualify position.

Kevin Harvick – His car was extremely quick during his opening run which put him at the top of the speed chart. Around the lap 10 mark against comparable cars he was about .5 MPH quicker than the next closest driver. His opening long run was 19 laps. Had the best 5, 10 and 15 lap averages 20 minutes into practice. Dale Earnhardt Jr. thinks he’ll be the driver to beat.

Kurt Busch – 25 minutes into practice while he was 13th he said, “We’ve lost some turn off throttle at the three-quarter mark.” Near the end of practice he felt really good about his car from lap 6 and on into a run.

Jimmie Johnson – 20 minutes into practice while he was 20th he said, “Feel pretty fluid. Really don’t have an entry issues. The longer I ran, the better I got.”

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – Had an engine fire about 10 minutes into practice. There was no follow up in the TV coverage.