Las Vegas NASCAR Practice #1 Notes
Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Erik Jones and Christopher Bell were all penalized this session. Hamlin was penalized 30 minutes, the rest were 15 minutes. Pre-practice, NASCAR didn’t like some bondo they put on their body. Supposedly the area where it was applied was their left front wheel well.
Ross Chastain – Ross Chastain practiced in the #6 in place of Ryan Newman. He started the session with a 10 lap run which put him 17th on the speed chart. Chastain said the bottom of his car was bouncing on the track.
Aric Almirola – Early in practice he had one of the best cars over a short run (+12 laps). Jeff Gordon liked his speed over a run. Late in practice he did a qualifying run which jumped him up to the top of the speed chart. In an interview he said his car was really good as soon as he got out on the track.
Clint Bowyer – Late in practice he did a qualifying run that jumped him to the top of speed chart (2nd after Almirola passed him). In an interview he said he was a little bit loose. He seemed pretty optimistic about his car.
Alex Bowman – His car showed good speed early in practice. After running 11 laps and being 4th on the speed chart ten minutes into practice he said, “Any time with wheel input, I’m chasing the tail.” 40 minutes into practice he said, “As I moved up, I think the race track is real green. Ride quality was maybe a little worse there.” At that time he was 4th.
