Austin Dillon was uniformly fast throughout the weekend. Not only did he win the pole, but he posted the third-quickest speed in Saturday morning’s session and was second-quick in final practice. Often a driver gives up single-lap speed when that happens, but the No. 3 car posted the fifth-fastest time in the morning and was sixth-best in the afternoon. Intangibles like pit stop errors or lost track position late in the race could mar his performance, but he should be a uniformly strong driver this week.
Harvick rolls off the grid on the outside pole, but he did not have very fast laps on Saturday. Instead, this team worked on reliable 10-lap averages, and he was solid in that regard.
Martin Truex Jr. is another driver to watch closely this week. He posted second-quickest, 10-lap average in Saturday’s first session and was quickest in final practice. He qualified only 17th, but that could be a blessing in disguise in games that offer place-differential points.
Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, and Harvick round out the top five in regard to average ranking of 10 consecutive laps and no one will be surprised to see them at the head of the field.
One pleasant surprise a little further down the grid is Regan Smith. The lightly-funded team of Tommy Baldwin Racing posted the 12th-quickest, 10-lap average. For a modest price of $10 in the NASCAR Fantasy Live game, he could extend the salary cap at the top of the order.
NASCAR is a zero-sum sport. For one driver to finish well, others must finish near the bottom of the order and the teams with the worst averages are not necessarily all lightly-funded. Brian Vickers was only 23rd-quick of 24 drivers who made 10-lap runs on Saturday morning. He was 21st of 29 in Happy Hour, but more should be expected of a Stewart-Haas Racer especially when he enters with a current three-race, top-15 streak on this track. Of course, he missed the fall 2010 race, as well the spring events 2012, 2013, and last year.
Kurt Busch crashed in the Saturday morning session and will roll out a backup car. He had been complaining about it throughout that session, however, and was not overly disappointed to roll out the second machine.
With an average ranking of 21.1 in Saturday’s sessions, it does not appear Clint Bowyer is going to turn his season around at Auto Club.
Greg Biffle is another driver who can be expected to struggle. He did not find long run speed and damaged his car in final practice after colliding with Kyle Larson.
|
Start |
Driver |
Qual |
Practice |
Rank |
Practice |
Rank |
Final |
Rank |
Avg. |
|
|
|
|
|||||||
|
1 |
188.482 |
188.511 |
1 |
186.587 |
5 |
184.952 |
6 |
2.0 |
|
|
2 |
188.329 |
188.304 |
3 |
184.710 |
17 |
183.183 |
27 |
12.3 |
|
|
3 |
187.637 |
187.139 |
16 |
184.351 |
23 |
183.463 |
21 |
15.8 |
|
|
4 |
187.276 |
187.003 |
20 |
186.640 |
3 |
184.473 |
10 |
9.3 |
|
|
5 |
187.222 |
186.384 |
25 |
187.906 |
1 |
185.347 |
2 |
8.3 |
|
|
6 |
187.212 |
187.212 |
15 |
186.635 |
4 |
183.781 |
16 |
10.3 |
|
|
7 |
186.916 |
186.172 |
27 |
184.195 |
25 |
183.411 |
23 |
20.5 |
|
|
8 |
186.795 |
187.047 |
18 |
185.252 |
12 |
183.425 |
22 |
15.0 |
|
|
9 |
186.557 |
187.047 |
19 |
184.035 |
28 |
185.099 |
4 |
15.0 |
|
|
10 |
186.345 |
186.225 |
26 |
184.455 |
21 |
184.649 |
8 |
16.3 |
|
|
11 |
185.687 |
187.451 |
10 |
185.328 |
11 |
182.964 |
29 |
15.3 |
|
|
12 |
187.642 |
187.700 |
6 |
183.993 |
30 |
184.644 |
9 |
14.3 |
|
|
13 |
187.495 |
186.63 |
23 |
186.162 |
6 |
183.669 |
18 |
15.0 |
|
|
14 |
187.480 |
187.495 |
9 |
184.497 |
20 |
185.161 |
3 |
11.5 |
|
|
15 |
187.232 |
187.251 |
14 |
184.327 |
24 |
184.289 |
12 |
16.3 |
|
|
16 |
187.154 |
187.823 |
5 |
182.834 |
33 |
182.820 |
30 |
21.0 |
|
|
17 |
187.028 |
188.432 |
2 |
187.632 |
2 |
184.743 |
7 |
7.0 |
|
|
18 |
186.528 |
188.289 |
4 |
185.912 |
8 |
184.473 |
10 |
10.0 |
|
|
19 |
186.297 |
187.573 |
7 |
185.199 |
13 |
184.002 |
14 |
13.3 |
|
|
20 |
186.268 |
186.466 |
24 |
184.653 |
18 |
185.419 |
1 |
15.8 |
|
|
21 |
186.176 |
186.858 |
22 |
186.061 |
7 |
182.593 |
31 |
20.3 |
|
|
22 |
186.075 |
187.378 |
11 |
183.936 |
31 |
183.997 |
15 |
19.8 |
|
|
23 |
185.773 |
187.505 |
8 |
185.452 |
9 |
183.482 |
20 |
15.0 |
|
|
24 |
185.581 |
186.950 |
21 |
184.943 |
16 |
183.725 |
17 |
19.5 |
|
|
25 |
186.398 |
187.125 |
17 |
184.530 |
19 |
185.071 |
5 |
16.5 |
|
|
26 |
186.095 |
186.167 |
28 |
185.052 |
15 |
183.299 |
24 |
23.3 |
|
|
27 |
186.080 |
187.281 |
12 |
185.424 |
10 |
184.233 |
13 |
15.5 |
|
|
28 |
185.696 |
185.304 |
31 |
185.099 |
14 |
183.496 |
19 |
23.0 |
|
|
29 |
185.639 |
186.148 |
29 |
184.450 |
22 |
183.038 |
28 |
27.0 |
|
|
30 |
185.486 |
184.436 |
33 |
181.970 |
34 |
181.566 |
33 |
32.5 |
|
|
31 |
185.099 |
185.854 |
30 |
184.139 |
27 |
183.253 |
25 |
28.3 |
|
|
32 |
184.990 |
187.266 |
13 |
184.011 |
29 |
183.239 |
26 |
25.0 |
|
|
33 |
184.611 |
183.917 |
34 |
184.148 |
26 |
182.168 |
32 |
31.3 |
|
|
34 |
184.186 |
183.243 |
35 |
183.183 |
32 |
181.374 |
34 |
33.8 |
|
|
35 |
183.052 |
185.076 |
32 |
181.210 |
35 |
179.363 |
35 |
34.3 |
|
|
36 |
182.348 |
182.205 |
37 |
180.950 |
36 |
178.962 |
36 |
36.3 |
|
|
37 |
181.951 |
179.073 |
39 |
176.337 |
39 |
177.923 |
37 |
38.0 |
|
|
38 |
186.610 |
182.242 |
36 |
180.909 |
37 |
177.039 |
39 |
37.5 |
|
|
39 |
180.415 |
180.153 |
38 |
178.711 |
38 |
177.309 |
38 |
38.3 |
|
10-Lap Averages |
10-Lap Averages |
Avg. |
|||||
|
Practice 2 |
Final Practice |
Rank |
|||||
|
2 |
182.487 |
1 |
180.723 |
1.50 |
|||
|
3 |
182.225 |
2 |
180.710 |
2.50 |
|||
|
|
|
3 |
180.427 |
3.00 |
|||
|
1 |
182.568 |
6 |
179.994 |
3.50 |
|||
|
4 |
182.204 |
4 |
180.257 |
4.00 |
|||
|
6 |
181.851 |
8 |
179.855 |
7.00 |
|||
|
|
|
7 |
179.872 |
7.00 |
|||
|
7 |
181.759 |
9 |
179.578 |
8.00 |
|||
|
16 |
180.924 |
5 |
180.102 |
10.50 |
|||
|
12 |
181.342 |
|
|
12.00 |
|||
|
|
|
13 |
179.336 |
13.00 |
|||
|
|
|
14 |
179.189 |
14.00 |
|||
|
5 |
181.981 |
24 |
178.485 |
14.50 |
|||
|
11 |
181.395 |
18 |
178.950 |
14.50 |
|||
|
|
|
15 |
179.152 |
15.00 |
|||
|
19 |
180.461 |
11 |
179.505 |
15.00 |
|||
|
18 |
180.591 |
12 |
179.496 |
15.00 |
|||
|
13 |
181.321 |
17 |
179.032 |
15.00 |
|||
|
8 |
181.621 |
23 |
178.558 |
15.50 |
|||
|
22 |
179.058 |
10 |
179.520 |
16.00 |
|||
|
10 |
181.508 |
22 |
178.640 |
16.00 |
|||
|
13 |
181.321 |
19 |
178.916 |
16.00 |
|||
|
|
|
16 |
179.149 |
16.00 |
|||
|
9 |
181.538 |
28 |
177.465 |
18.50 |
|||
|
|
|
20 |
178.898 |
20.00 |
|||
|
20 |
180.309 |
|
|
20.00 |
|||
|
21 |
179.766 |
|
|
21.00 |
|||
|
15 |
181.148 |
27 |
177.785 |
21.00 |
|||
|
17 |
180.914 |
25 |
178.385 |
21.00 |
|||
|
23 |
178.526 |
21 |
178.701 |
22.00 |
|||
|
|
|
26 |
178.354 |
26.00 |
|||
|
24 |
178.504 |
29 |
176.629 |
26.50 |