Phoenix Shriners Children’s 500 NASCAR Practice Notes

General Practice Notes: The Option tire was said to be faster than the Prime tire at the 30-lap count. It sounded like about lap 40 is where the Prime tire started to get faster over a run. All the quick speeds in practice came from the Option tire.

Kyle Larson – Kyle Larson started with the option tire and had a lot of speed. Larson ended practice #1 for 25 and 30-lap averages. Larson said he felt like his car was pretty decent.

Ryan Blaney – Blaney started on the Prime tires. Blaney said he felt like his car was pretty good and he liked his long run speed.  Blaney had the 2nd best 20-lap average and the 5th best 30-lap average.

Chris Buescher – Buescher felt like he had good fire off speed which was a step in the right direction for him. He always feels good about long run speed here. Keselowski said that Buescher’s looked strong. Buescher had the 11th best 20-lap average.

Joey Logano – Logano said it seems like he’s in the ballpark. Logano ranked 3rd for both 25 and 30-lap averages.

Michael McDowell – The #71 team started with the option tire and were fast with it, being #1 for 10,15 and 20-lap averages early. McDowell’s crew chief was happy with how the #71 team ran and felt like they had good Option tire data to work with. McDowell said his car was good in an interview.