Rain has been the story of the week thus far at the Kentucky Speedway. On Friday afternoon, Sprint Cup Series and qualifying was declared cancelled due to a heavy downpour that hit the track around noon eastern time and lasted all afternoon. The rule book sets the starting grid by speeds in the first practice session, which is the only time that the Cup Series cars have been on track all week. Kyle Larson was fastest in practice and will start from the pole on Saturday evening.
On Wednesday, Cup Series teams were scheduled to have an open test session to test a new aerodynamic package that is being run for the first time this weekend. However, that session was canceled due to rain and was postponed to Thursday.
On Thursday, again all it did was rain and there was no on-track activity for the Cup Series teams. Friday was the first time they were able to get on track.
In the opening practice session Larson was quickest. The No. 42 paced the practice session with a speed of 182.537 mph which was over a tenth-of-a-second faster than second quickest, Brad Keselowski. Jeff Gordon will start from the third position in his final start at Kentucky.
If Gordon can win on Satuday, he will become the first driver to win at all of the current race tracks.
With there only being an hour of practice so far this weekend, final practice will be crucial for all of the Cup Series teams. It will be the final preparations that the teams will have before the green flag flies over the Quaker State 400 on Saturday night.
“I don’t think it will be any different from any other happy hour sessions,” said Larson. ” I think you will see a little bit of a busier track, but I don’t think you will see anyone racing each other.”
Keselowski, the defending winner of this event, believes that he has as good of a shot at winning as anybody.
“We are starting second in both races, and I feel like we had a shot at the pole for both races,” Keselowski said in the media center. “The more track time you get, the more understanding you will get on what it will take to win.”
With all of the rain so far this week in the Bluegrass state, the track has been unable to “rubber up.” This leads to less grip, which makes for edgier racing as cars may slip and slide around the 1.5 mile oval.
The new aero package was supposed to be the first step for the future of NASCAR. Drivers have begged for a change in order to make for competitive racing. They will indeed get that this weekend. However, there is no telling what the end result will be due to the lack of track-time.
“The car has less grip,” Keselowski said of the new aero package. “It takes a little more skill and driver talent which is what a lot of the drivers wanted. I’m very happy with what I’ve seen so far.”
Ryan Blaney, Travis Kvapil and Michael McDowell all have to go home and will not race Saturday. It is the second-consecutive week that Blaney and McDowell have failed to make the race due to rain. The NASCAR rulebook says that teams with the fewest of starts will not make the race in case of a rain out. This is a real disappointment for Blaney because the Wood Brothers have an alliance with Team Penske and drivers Joey Logano and the aforementioned Keselowski. Blaney was 16th in the opening practice.
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