Coca-Cola 600 Qualifying Update

Lowe's Motor Speedway -- 05/25/08

Author: Becca Gladden

Published: Saturday May 24 2008 4:33pm

It's another odd schedule at Lowe's Motor Speedway this week for Sunday's Coca-Cola 600. The first practice session, along with qualifying, were held Thursday - relatively early in the week for a Sunday race. There was no action on the track or in the garage Friday, then Saturday provided two additional practice sessions.

The various practice times should help teams get a handle on what to anticipate Sunday, though the move into nighttime racing will still present a challenge for crew chiefs.

Two Roush racing Fords topped the leaderboard in Thursday's pre-qualifying practice session. David Ragan (+2100) paced the field with a lap time of 29.732 and a top speed of 181.622 miles per hour, followed by Greg Biffle (+750) with a 29.744. Rounding out the top 5 were Dale Earnhardt Jr. (+610), Kasey Kahne (+850), and Mark Martin (+2100). Travis Kvapil in the No. 28 Ford hit the wall in practice and will go to a backup car.

Following Thursday's practice was qualifying, and all five of the drivers who topped the morning session also placed within the top 10 in time trials. The pole, however, was captured by Kyle Busch (+370) with a 29.121, 185.433 mile per hour lap. Kasey Kahne qualified 2nd, followed by Brian Vickers, Biffle and Ragan. Earnhardt Jr. was 6th and Mark Martin, 7th.

Sam Hornish Jr., who qualified 20th, was fastest among the go-or-go home drivers and also the highest qualifying rookie.

Teams that failed to qualify were those of Jeff Green, Stanton Barrett, Jon Wood, Joe Nemechek, and Tony Raines.

A few drivers with surprisingly poor starting spots include Carl Edwards (+520) at 30th, Tony Stewart (+1000) at 31st, Ryan Newman (+3400) at 38th, and Clint Bowyer (+3300) at 39th. 78% of all races at Lowe's have been won from a top-10 starting spot, though Jimmie Johnson (+540) was able to pull off a win in the 2003 Coca-Cola 600 from a 37th-place start.

Travis Kvapil, who crashed in practice, and Juan Pablo Montoya, unhappy and unsettled after a crew chief change earlier this week, made the race on owner's points.

In Saturday's first practice, Roushketeers Greg Biffle and David Ragan swapped spots from Thursday morning. Biffle paced the field with a lap time of 29.950 and a top speed of 180.282 miles per hour, followed by David Ragan with a 30.20.
Three Toyotas completed the top 5 Saturday morning - Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart from Joe Gibbs Racing, followed by Michael Waltrip Racing's David Reutimann. Dale Earnhardt Jr. had the fastest Chevy at 8th, while Kasey Kahne had the best Dodge run at 12th.

Further down the speed charts were Denny Hamlin (+1000) at 32nd and Clint Bowyer at 35th. Bowyer's Richard Childress Racing teammates were also slow, with Kevin Harvick (+2700) at 21st and Jeff Burton at 27th.

It was also learned Saturday that the two primary cars of Haas-CNC racing - the No. 66 of Scott Riggs and the No. 70 of Johnny Sauter - were confiscated by NASCAR for issues involving the rear-wing mounts. The teams will be going to backups, but fines and penalties could be forthcoming this week.

In final practice Saturday afternoon, teams made continued to make adjustments in preparation for Sunday's race.

Saturday's final practice session just concluded and four of the top six cars were Toyotas: Brian Vickers had the fastest single lap at 180.735 miles per hour, followed by Tony Stewart (2), Dave Blaney (3), Kurt Busch (4) in a Dodge, Greg Biffle (5) in a Ford, and pole sitter Kyle Busch (6) also in a Toyota. Jimmie Johnson (7) had the fastest Chevy, last year's race winner Casey Mears ran 8th, and DEI's Mark Martin and Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the top 10.

Other notable times in Happy Hour included Carl Edwards, 29th, Jeff Burton, 30th, Clint Bowyer, 32nd, Denny Hamlin, 33rd, Ryan Newman, 37th, and Kevin Harvick, 38th.

Bettors looking for a relative long shot might want to consider David Ragan (+2100). The young Roush Racing driver moved into the top 12 in Cup points last week and has two top-5 finishes in his last three starts. Ragan was 1st in Thursday's practice, qualified 5th, ran 2nd and 15th in Saturday's practice sessions, and scored the outside pole for the Nationwide race.