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Notes-
1-Jamie Mac: JMac like most weeks showed good speed in both practices and qualifying.He will roll off from inside the top 10. He should be a top 15 option overall in most formats (boarderline top 10).
2-Brad Keselowski: Keselowski arguably had the best car on Friday and will start on the pole. Brad is the guy to beat on Saturday night. Watch out for him. Track position will be key for Saturday race.
3-Austin Dillon: Dillon roll off 16th. Like normal , Dillon will race better then he practice. Austin was a bit free on the exit in practice 1. Later in the session , He said 3 and 4 was perfect but needed help in 1 and 2.
4-Kevin Harvick: Harvick complained about being loose mainly. But his car consistently got better as the day went on. He is an top 5 guy heading in. But don't be shocked to see him go to the lead early on.
5-Kasey Kahne: Kahne spun in final practice. Complained early on about being slightly loose. Near end of final practice , Kahne was very happy with his car. Kahne ran good lap times all day long. He is my dark horse pick to win.
10-Danica Patrick: Honestly I didn't see her do a race trim in either practice. I am sure she did a few race runs. But I probably missed it. She starts 10th and Harvick explained Kentucky to Danica after Nationwide practice. Remember last time at Kansas?
11-Denny Hamlin: Hamlin didn't blow me away in practice. Fortunately he was good overall. He doesn't have the pure speed of the guys starting around him. But expect a finish between 7-15 range.
14-Tony Stewart: I didn't watch Smoke much on Friday. So I don't have much of a read on him. But he seemed off overall. Tony typically excels on slick racetracks. I would save him for another week.
16-Greg Biffle: The Roush cars have a problem and its showing on the intermediate racetracks. It really pathetic. They are really off from the chevys. Save the Biff for Daytona next week.
18-Kyle Busch: Busch and JGR cars are clearly lacking the speed from a year ago. But that doesn't mean , he cannot contend for a top 10 finish on Saturday. Felt like the 18 was slightly off on Friday though.
20-Matt Kenseth: If you haven't noticed, Kenseth have looked average in practice all year long. Then goes out and slowly makes his way towards the front on raceday. This week no different.
22-Joey Logano: Logano looked fairly competitive in practice. Posted solid lap times all day long. He will start 2nd. Top 5 to Top 10 based off practice.
24-Jeff Gordon: Gordon to no surprise looks fast on the long run (again). He starts 3rd. They keep delivering him fast cars and Gordon keeps knocking off top 10s. Expect Saturday to be the same.
27-Paul Menard: A lot to love about the 27 this week. He been smoking lately. He should make a nice addition to any team this weekend. He showed nice speed in practice.
31-Ryan Newman: Newman didn't make headlines on Friday. But he seems to like his car overall. Near end of practice Newman commented , "This is the best I ever felt here." Newman have a top 10 to top 15 car.
42-Kyle Larson: Boy can this kid drive. Every week , he impresses. This week he looked good once again. Not sure how many race runs he ran though. But expect a top 15 type of night (if not better).
48-Jimmie Johnson: Johnson have some work to do. He will start start 25th. But he looked great in race trim. Weather he makes it from 25th to 1st without strategy is the unknown question.
55-Brian Vickers: I really wanted to see more out of the 55. I mean , I thought he was off compared to others. I don't get that confident feeling towards him. He looked best top 15.
88-Dale Jr: Dale was off for most of the day. Doesn't help he qualified poorly as well. Honestly none of the HMS cars qualified well (outside of 24 car).
99-Carl Edwards: Edwards didn't really impress me. He looked off. But heck the Roush fords been like that all year (especially at Intermediate tracks.)
Thanks for reading ,
Jeff Nathans
