DARLINGTON, S.C. – Denny Hamlin got his quest for a second-straight Bojangles’ Southern 500 victory off to a flying start on Friday by topping the overall Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice charts at Darlington Raceway.
Hamlin, who is carrying a throwback paint scheme to his very first short track car this weekend, toured the 1.366-mile, egg-shaped oval in 28.543 seconds (172.287 mph) with the No. 11 FedEx Toyota.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver and 2010 championship runner-up is seeking his eighth Darlington win overall between the Cup Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series, but noted Friday that The Track Too Tough To Tame is still difficult to master.
“It’s not easy,” Hamlin said of driving Darlington. “At this race track, you still have to run up by the wall to really make good lap times. It’s just really the dynamics and the symmetry of the race track that makes you have to do that. It allows you to get a better angle for corner exits, especially at this track where the corners are really tight in Turns 3 and 4 as well – mostly Turns 3 and 4. It’s just part of the track dynamics that makes you have to run up there.
“If you try to run the bottom all the way through (Turns) 1 and 2, you’re going to go dead straight on exit and into the wall and that’s what I did in my first test here,” Hamlin continued. “You get right on it. With these cars having exhaust on the right side, you can kind of hear how close you are and even see it, but you also can hear it and that kind of tells you where you’re at on the race track.”
Hamlin also posted the fastest 10-lap average speed of the day at 168.715 mph.
Kyle Larson was the fastest Chevrolet driver in second (28.585/172.034) with the No. 42 DC Solar-sponsored entry for Chip Ganassi Racing, followed by Brad Keselowski’s No. 2 Miller Genuine Draft Ford in third (28.591/171.998).
Alex Bowman and Ryan Newman completed the top five, with Erik Jones, Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Blaney in sixth through eighth, respectively. The fastest eight single-lap speeds on Friday came from the first 50-minute round of practice.
Quickest in Happy Hour was Newman’s No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet, turning in a time of 28.641 seconds (171.698 mph). Chase Elliott, Johnson, Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch comprised the rest of the top five.
The only incidents of note during Friday’s two practices were a spin by Erik Jones with six minutes remaining during the first session and Jamie McMurray’s blown motor on his first flying lap of the day.
McMurray was able to return and make 13 laps in final practice after a backup motor was installed in his No. 1 McDonald’s 50 Years of Big Mac Chevrolet, posting the 31st-fastest time among the 40-car field.
Busch Pole Qualifying for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will begin at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
