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Final Homestead-Miami practice: How Championship 4 fared
By Zack Albert | Published: November 16, 2019 5
Zack Albert | NASCAR Digital Media
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Zack Albert | NASCAR Digital Media
On-track preparation is complete for Sunday's Ford EcoBoost 400 (3 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM) with a rainy Friday limiting the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series to a single 50-minute practice. As the drivers gear up to race for the title, here's a glance at how the Championship 4 fared in the lone practice session at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
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Sean Gardner | Getty Images
KYLE BUSCH
Team: Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota
Final practice rank: 1st (168.966 mph)
Final 10-lap average rank: 2nd (163.668 mph)
Starting position: 4th
Noteworthy: Busch ran the fewest laps of the quartet (44), though all four finalists were in the mid-40s on their lap total. His No. 18 Toyota ranked best in the consecutive five-lap average category.
Quotable: "I think practice over qualifying was for sure a good idea just for the field. Kind of the unknown with everything that's coming into this weekend to have a shot to work on your race car instead of just going out there blind and trying to run as fast as you can for a qualifying lap. Overall, it's kind of what I would have done, I guess."
Team: Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota
Final practice rank: 1st (168.966 mph)
Final 10-lap average rank: 2nd (163.668 mph)
Starting position: 4th
Noteworthy: Busch ran the fewest laps of the quartet (44), though all four finalists were in the mid-40s on their lap total. His No. 18 Toyota ranked best in the consecutive five-lap average category.
Quotable: "I think practice over qualifying was for sure a good idea just for the field. Kind of the unknown with everything that's coming into this weekend to have a shot to work on your race car instead of just going out there blind and trying to run as fast as you can for a qualifying lap. Overall, it's kind of what I would have done, I guess."
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Jonathan Ferrey | Getty Images
MARTIN TRUEX JR.
Team: Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota
Final practice rank: 2nd (168.460 mph)
Final 10-lap average rank: 3rd (163.546 mph)
Starting position: 3rd
Noteworthy: Truex opted for a slightly different strategy than his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates making three runs while Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin made four. Truex's No. 19 topped the chart for 15-lap averages.
Quotable: "I felt pretty close. Good we were able to make three long runs. Typically for me personally, if the car is pretty close, I'll run a bunch of laps right away. That's definitely a good sign. The guys did a good job being prepared, making a lot of good assumptions. I feel pretty good. I definitely feel like we can get better. Just like every other weekend, how do you get better, can you do the right things, make the right changes tonight for tomorrow, then you go race and see how it plays out. Feeling pretty good about things. Hopefully, we can get a little bit better."
Team: Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota
Final practice rank: 2nd (168.460 mph)
Final 10-lap average rank: 3rd (163.546 mph)
Starting position: 3rd
Noteworthy: Truex opted for a slightly different strategy than his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates making three runs while Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin made four. Truex's No. 19 topped the chart for 15-lap averages.
Quotable: "I felt pretty close. Good we were able to make three long runs. Typically for me personally, if the car is pretty close, I'll run a bunch of laps right away. That's definitely a good sign. The guys did a good job being prepared, making a lot of good assumptions. I feel pretty good. I definitely feel like we can get better. Just like every other weekend, how do you get better, can you do the right things, make the right changes tonight for tomorrow, then you go race and see how it plays out. Feeling pretty good about things. Hopefully, we can get a little bit better."
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
DENNY HAMLIN
Team: Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota
Final practice rank: 3rd (168.277 mph)
Final 10-lap average rank: 1st (163.981 mph)
Starting position: 1st
Noteworthy: The 50-minute session went without major incident for the four, with only Hamlin committing a relatively harmless blip by missing pit entry at the end of one of his four practice runs. On the positive side, his 10-lap average was best of the four.
Quotable: "Yeah, this is the first year really kind of just gone by marks on the race track for pit entry. I hadn't had a mark here. Obviously, a different package slows down differently and whatnot. Just went too far."
Team: Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota
Final practice rank: 3rd (168.277 mph)
Final 10-lap average rank: 1st (163.981 mph)
Starting position: 1st
Noteworthy: The 50-minute session went without major incident for the four, with only Hamlin committing a relatively harmless blip by missing pit entry at the end of one of his four practice runs. On the positive side, his 10-lap average was best of the four.
Quotable: "Yeah, this is the first year really kind of just gone by marks on the race track for pit entry. I hadn't had a mark here. Obviously, a different package slows down differently and whatnot. Just went too far."
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Jonathan Ferrey | Getty Images
KEVIN HARVICK
Team: Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Ford
Final practice rank: 9th (166.806 mph)
Final 10-lap average rank: 7th (162.901 mph)
Starting position: 2nd
Noteworthy: Harvick's No. 4 team made improvements after the first run, but he still held the lowest spot among the four finalists. He was best among his Stewart-Haas Racing teammates, with Daniel Suarez 13th, Clint Bowyer 15th and Aric Almirola 18th.
Quotable: "Yeah, once the race starts, it's a little bit different because you don't have the stages that you have to work on, worrying about stage points. The strategy is really pretty straightforward as to what you're trying to do: that's just be around to have a chance at the end of the race."
Team: Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Ford
Final practice rank: 9th (166.806 mph)
Final 10-lap average rank: 7th (162.901 mph)
Starting position: 2nd
Noteworthy: Harvick's No. 4 team made improvements after the first run, but he still held the lowest spot among the four finalists. He was best among his Stewart-Haas Racing teammates, with Daniel Suarez 13th, Clint Bowyer 15th and Aric Almirola 18th.
Quotable: "Yeah, once the race starts, it's a little bit different because you don't have the stages that you have to work on, worrying about stage points. The strategy is really pretty straightforward as to what you're trying to do: that's just be around to have a chance at the end of the race."