Race Weekend Central

Kevin Harvick, Daniel Hemric lead Saturday Cup Series practice sessions in Fontana

Kevin Harvick and Daniel Hemric led the two Saturday practice session at a, once again, very windy Auto Club Speedway.

In first practice, Bakersfield, California native Harvick ran the fastest of his twenty two laps at a time of 40.940 seconds, at just under 176 mph.

Some drivers attempted to bump draft during the session, but the session saw mostly single-file runs throughout the 55-minute practice session.

Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, defending winner Martin Truex Jr and Daniel Hemric rounded out the top five.

Pole winner Austin Dillon was ninth quickest with a lap of 41.662 sec at 174.919 mph.

Kyle Larson bumped the wall during the session but it was not enough to bring out the caution. He will not need to go to a back-up car.

FULL MENCS PRACTICE 1 RESULTS

Keselowski was fastest in 10-lap averages with an average speed of 173.219 MPH. Busch was second, followed by Alex Bowman, Hemric and Aric Almirola 

Keselowski’s Wurth Ford also turned the fastest speed of the session at 176.648 MPH with Hemric right behind him at 176.548 MPH.

Some drafting took place in this final practice with Team Penske drivers Keselowski and Joey Logano starting the draft with Truex Jr and Denny Hamlin right behind them.

Daniel Suarez, Almirola and Ryan Blaney rounded out the top five.

FULL MENCS FINAL PRACTICE RESULTS

The 23rd Annual Auto Club 400 will be LIVE on Fox at 3:30 PM ET with the green flag waving around 3:47 PM ET.

About the author

Bryan Nolen is the Podcast Manager for Frontstretch.com. He also hosts the Frontstretch Podcast with Bryan Nolen and occasionally makes appearances on The Happy Hour Podcast. He has a Sportscasting degree from the Dan Patrick School of Sportscasting. He resides in Boise, Idaho, with his wife and two rabbits.

Follow him on Twitter @TheBryanNolen

Sign up for the Frontstretch Newsletter

A daily email update (Monday through Friday) providing racing news, commentary, features, and information from Frontstretch.com
We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else.

Share via