The NASCAR Cup Series ran a single practice session at Richmond Raceway on Saturday afternoon in preparation for the Cook Out 400 race on Sunday afternoon.
The field was split into two groups for this practice session. The first group was significantly faster than the second group due to track conditions.
Below you'll find the two practice groups, key notes from the practice session and the practice speeds for all drivers.
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Important Practice Notes
William Byron - William Byron went out and quickly jumped to the top of his group's speed chart during practice, but soon after he hit the wall a bit. The damage wasn't extensive but it was visible on the car. Byron noted that he was quite loose after hitting the wall, and you could tell in his lap times. His pit crew gave him the all clear that everything was fine later in the session.
Kevin Harvick - Kevin Harvick was quite fast on the speed chart as well, but hit something sitting on the track. There has been no word that this has hurt the car at all.
Time Falloff Chart
With a high-wear track like Richmond, and with the track speeds being significantly different between the two practice sessions it's very important to look at tire falloff time. You do this by comparing a driver's lap average times. For example, seeing how much they fell off between their 5- and 10-lap average, or between their 5- and 30-lap average.
The drivers that have very good lap average speed, as well as low tire falloff, should be super fast on Sunday.
Below is the chart for what kind of falloff each driver had during practice on Saturday.
5 to 10 | 5 to 15 | 5 to 20 | 5 to 25 | 5 to 30 | |
DENNY HAMLIN | -0.044 | -0.092 | -0.204 | -0.315 | -0.417 |
AUSTIN CINDRIC | -0.062 | -0.180 | -0.326 | -0.427 | -0.536 |
RYAN BLANEY | -0.064 | -0.161 | -0.314 | -0.420 | -0.508 |
HARRISON BURTON | -0.073 | -0.190 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
TY DILLON | -0.110 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
CHASE BRISCOE | -0.175 | -0.372 | -0.499 | -0.610 | -0.708 |
BRAD KESELOWSKI | -0.198 | -0.428 | -0.541 | -0.626 | -0.702 |
ROSS CHASTAIN | -0.226 | -0.390 | -0.543 | -0.653 | -0.767 |
MICHAEL MCDOWELL | -0.227 | -0.460 | -0.622 | N/A | N/A |
NOAH GRAGSON | -0.227 | -0.426 | -0.536 | -0.664 | -0.775 |
MARTIN TRUEX JR. | -0.230 | -0.410 | -0.549 | -0.653 | -0.753 |
KEVIN HARVICK | -0.232 | -0.372 | -0.505 | -0.615 | N/A |
RYAN PREECE | -0.237 | -0.430 | -0.571 | -0.685 | -0.782 |
JOEY LOGANO | -0.240 | -0.447 | -0.610 | N/A | N/A |
TY GIBBS | -0.242 | -1.123 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
AUSTIN DILLON | -0.247 | -1.147 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
TODD GILLILAND | -0.257 | -0.431 | -0.595 | -0.740 | N/A |
TYLER REDDICK | -0.261 | -0.468 | -0.673 | -0.788 | -0.886 |
BUBBA WALLACE | -0.263 | -0.493 | -0.642 | -0.781 | -0.904 |
ALEX BOWMAN | -0.269 | -0.470 | -0.597 | -0.700 | -0.842 |
CHRIS BUESCHER | -0.277 | -0.498 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
KYLE BUSCH | -0.278 | -1.159 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
RICKY STENHOUSE JR. | -0.284 | -1.261 | -1.321 | N/A | N/A |
ARIC ALMIROLA | -0.292 | -0.513 | -0.688 | -0.821 | -0.936 |
KYLE LARSON | -0.300 | -0.491 | -0.630 | -0.750 | -0.852 |
CHASE ELLIOTT | -0.325 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
DANIEL SUAREZ | -0.333 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
COREY LAJOIE | -0.362 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
WILLIAM BYRON | -0.399 | -0.667 | -0.863 | N/A | N/A |
ERIK JONES | -0.404 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
DEREK KRAUS | -0.838 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
CHRISTOPHER BELL | -1.029 | -1.134 | -1.205 | N/A | N/A |
Richmond Cook Out 400 Practice Speed Chart
Click here to download the PDF of the practice speed chart.
Pos | Driver | Time | Speed | Fastest Lap | Laps Ran | Behind Leader |
1. | William Byron | 23.057 | 117.101 | 2 | 28 | ---.--- |
2. | Chase Elliott | 23.203 | 116.364 | 2 | 25 | -0.146 |
3. | Chris Buescher | 23.249 | 116.134 | 2 | 26 | -0.192 |
4. | Erik Jones | 23.267 | 116.044 | 1 | 24 | -0.210 |
5. | Aric Almirola | 23.279 | 115.984 | 1 | 41 | -0.222 |
6. | Justin Haley | 23.281 | 115.974 | 2 | 29 | -0.224 |
7. | Christopher Bell | 23.302 | 115.870 | 1 | 30 | -0.245 |
8. | Ty Dillon | 23.309 | 115.835 | 2 | 25 | -0.252 |
9. | Bubba Wallace | 23.323 | 115.766 | 2 | 35 | -0.266 |
10. | Daniel Suarez | 23.334 | 115.711 | 2 | 34 | -0.277 |
11. | Corey LaJoie | 23.343 | 115.666 | 1 | 31 | -0.286 |
12. | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 23.496 | 114.913 | 1 | 34 | -0.439 |
13. | JJ Yeley(i) | 23.626 | 114.281 | 2 | 24 | -0.569 |
14. | Tyler Reddick | 23.725 | 113.804 | 1 | 38 | -0.668 |
15. | Ryan Newman | 23.748 | 113.694 | 2 | 25 | -0.691 |
16. | Kevin Harvick | 23.766 | 113.608 | 1 | 31 | -0.709 |
17. | Kyle Larson | 23.809 | 113.402 | 2 | 38 | -0.752 |
18. | Michael McDowell | 23.816 | 113.369 | 1 | 32 | -0.759 |
19. | Joey Logano | 23.832 | 113.293 | 2 | 34 | -0.775 |
20. | Todd Gilliland | 23.880 | 113.065 | 1 | 33 | -0.823 |
21. | Martin Truex Jr. | 23.888 | 113.027 | 2 | 42 | -0.831 |
22. | Ross Chastain | 23.904 | 112.952 | 2 | 40 | -0.847 |
23. | Ryan Preece | 23.921 | 112.872 | 3 | 38 | -0.864 |
24. | Austin Dillon | 23.933 | 112.815 | 1 | 34 | -0.876 |
25. | Noah Gragson # | 23.944 | 112.763 | 1 | 43 | -0.887 |
26. | Kyle Busch | 23.953 | 112.721 | 1 | 31 | -0.896 |
27. | Ty Gibbs # | 23.982 | 112.584 | 3 | 34 | -0.925 |
28. | Chase Briscoe | 24.037 | 112.327 | 1 | 44 | -0.980 |
29. | Alex Bowman | 24.062 | 112.210 | 1 | 37 | -1.005 |
30. | Brad Keselowski | 24.088 | 112.089 | 1 | 45 | -1.031 |
31. | Ryan Blaney | 24.091 | 112.075 | 1 | 33 | -1.034 |
32. | Harrison Burton | 24.126 | 111.912 | 4 | 27 | -1.069 |
33. | Austin Cindric | 24.132 | 111.885 | 2 | 30 | -1.075 |
34. | Denny Hamlin | 24.182 | 111.653 | 5 | 37 | -1.125 |
35. | Derek Kraus(i) | 24.278 | 111.212 | 3 | 22 | -1.221 |
36. | BJ McLeod | 25.091 | 107.608 | 3 | 10 | -2.034 |
Richmond Cook Out 400 10-Lap Average Chart
Pos | Driver | From Lap | To Lap | Avg Speed |
1. | William Byron | 1 | 10 | 113.740 |
2. | Aric Almirola | 1 | 10 | 113.621 |
3. | Bubba Wallace | 1 | 10 | 113.490 |
4. | Chris Buescher | 1 | 10 | 113.482 |
5. | Chase Elliott | 1 | 10 | 113.460 |
6. | Daniel Suarez | 1 | 10 | 113.118 |
7. | Erik Jones | 1 | 10 | 112.697 |
8. | Corey LaJoie | 1 | 10 | 112.677 |
9. | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 1 | 10 | 112.230 |
10. | Martin Truex Jr. | 1 | 10 | 111.350 |
11. | Ryan Blaney | 1 | 10 | 111.299 |
12. | Ryan Preece | 1 | 10 | 111.263 |
13. | Joey Logano | 1 | 10 | 111.261 |
14. | Ross Chastain | 1 | 10 | 111.259 |
15. | Kevin Harvick | 1 | 10 | 111.175 |
16. | Harrison Burton | 1 | 10 | 111.143 |
17. | Tyler Reddick | 1 | 10 | 111.088 |
18. | Denny Hamlin | 1 | 10 | 111.038 |
19. | Michael McDowell | 1 | 10 | 110.963 |
20. | Kyle Larson | 1 | 10 | 110.938 |
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