Sonoma NASCAR Practice Notes

Group #1 Practice Notes

AJ Allmendinger – 15 minutes into practice, Allmendinger jumped to the top of the speed chart for overall speed (at the time). Allmendinger’s 5 lap average was way off, so don’t read into it. Allmendinger said his car wasn’t too good. He said it was a good starting point though. “Running one fast lap is a lot different than being good in the race.” “Just a little too loose there. We’re fast, just have to fine tune it. These short practices you take a guess at it and see if we can make adjustments.”

Martin Truex Jr. – 10 minutes into practice, Martin Truex Jr. said his car is hard to turn in the centers of turns 7 & 11, but he’s overall loose. Truex also reported some brake shake during his opening run. Truex said he felt like he had some things to work on. Said his car didn’t drive good at all. The track had different rubber on it from the ARCA race.

Kevin Harvick – Kevin Harvick was at the top of the speed chart for group #1 early in practice. Ten minutes into practice he had the 2nd best 5 lap average. Kevin Harvick felt good about his car in race trim. “The car’s really good, just have to go race.”

Chris Buescher – Chris Buescher who’s returning this week, ran quick lap times early. 7 minutes into practice he was at the top of the speed chart. Ten minutes into practice he had the best 5 lap average (at the time). Late in group practice, Buescher said, “Losing rear grip already.”

Alex Bowman – 10 minutes into practice while he was 8th, Alex Bowman reported he needs a little more rear grip. Later, Bowman reported that the adjustment helped with left-rear grip, now needs more right-rear security. “Really loose in both directions. Can’t change much, so we’ll lean on our teammates, they’re a bit better than us. Just trying to see if I can do anything on my end to be better and find grip.”