Daniel Suarez fastest in final Coke 600 practice at Charlotte
Daniel Suarez completed a sweep, leading the way in both of Saturday’s final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice sessions prior to the Coca-Cola 600.
Daniel Suarez, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford Mustang Coca-Cola
Nigel Kinrade / NKP / Motorsport Images
As he did in Saturday’s first 50-minute session, Suarez went to the top of the leaderboard early and his average lap speed of 180.705 mph stood the remainder of the practice.
Daniel Hemric ended up second (180.6876 mph) and Denny Hamlin was third (180.554 mph). Ryan Preece and Kyle Busch completed the top-five.
Suarez’s performance good be a good omen.
Seven Cup series drivers have won their first career races in the 600, with Austin Dillon the most recent to accomplish the feat in 2017. Suarez, a former Xfinity Series champion, is still looking for his first Cup win.
Rounding out the top-10 in practice were Erik Jones, Austin Dillon, Paul Menard, pole-winner William Byron and Clint Bowyer.
Kyle Busch had the fastest average lap speed (179.485 mph) among the drivers who ran at least 10 consecutive laps. Austin Dillon and Hemric were second and third, respectively, in that category.
Cla | # | Driver | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | Mph | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 41 | Daniel Suarez | Ford | 51 | 29.883 | 180.705 | |||
2 | 8 | Daniel Hemric | Chevrolet | 27 | 29.886 | 0.003 | 0.003 | 180.687 | |
3 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 52 | 29.908 | 0.025 | 0.022 | 180.554 | |
4 | 47 | Ryan Preece | Chevrolet | 46 | 29.922 | 0.039 | 0.014 | 180.469 | |
5 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 46 | 29.954 | 0.071 | 0.032 | 180.276 | |
6 | 20 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 46 | 29.963 | 0.080 | 0.009 | 180.222 | |
7 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 13 | 29.994 | 0.111 | 0.031 | 180.036 | |
8 | 21 | Paul Menard | Ford | 41 | 30.038 | 0.155 | 0.044 | 179.772 | |
9 | 24 | William Byron | Chevrolet | 48 | 30.043 | 0.160 | 0.005 | 179.742 | |
10 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 47 | 30.061 | 0.178 | 0.018 | 179.635 | |
11 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 30 | 30.070 | 0.187 | 0.009 | 179.581 | |
12 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 47 | 30.080 | 0.197 | 0.010 | 179.521 | |
13 | 38 | David Ragan | Ford | 43 | 30.087 | 0.204 | 0.007 | 179.480 | |
14 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 59 | 30.099 | 0.216 | 0.012 | 179.408 | |
15 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 42 | 30.105 | 0.222 | 0.006 | 179.372 | |
16 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 40 | 30.107 | 0.224 | 0.002 | 179.360 | |
17 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 41 | 30.120 | 0.237 | 0.013 | 179.283 | |
18 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 62 | 30.126 | 0.243 | 0.006 | 179.247 | |
19 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Chevrolet | 42 | 30.144 | 0.261 | 0.018 | 179.140 | |
20 | 37 | Chris Buescher | Chevrolet | 47 | 30.153 | 0.270 | 0.009 | 179.087 | |
21 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 52 | 30.153 | 0.270 | 0.000 | 179.087 | |
22 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 39 | 30.210 | 0.327 | 0.057 | 178.749 | |
23 | 95 | Matt DiBenedetto | Toyota | 48 | 30.213 | 0.330 | 0.003 | 178.731 | |
24 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | 47 | 30.222 | 0.339 | 0.009 | 178.678 | |
25 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 48 | 30.243 | 0.360 | 0.021 | 178.554 | |
26 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Ford | 43 | 30.287 | 0.404 | 0.044 | 178.294 | |
27 | 43 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | Chevrolet | 51 | 30.299 | 0.416 | 0.012 | 178.224 | |
28 | 6 | Ryan Newman | Ford | 35 | 30.357 | 0.474 | 0.058 | 177.883 | |
29 | 96 | Parker Kligerman | Toyota | 24 | 30.464 | 0.581 | 0.107 | 177.258 | |
30 | 36 | Matt Tifft | Ford | 43 | 30.488 | 0.605 | 0.024 | 177.119 | |
31 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 35 | 30.492 | 0.609 | 0.004 | 177.096 | |
32 | 00 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | 31 | 30.727 | 0.844 | 0.235 | 175.741 |
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