Saturday’s final ‘Happy Hour’ practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup series on the Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway proved to be disastrous for a couple of Playoff drivers.
Early in the practice Martin Truex Jr., who has won the last two Cup races, missed a shift and overrevved his engine just after he set the fastest lap. Truex was forced to stop the car and will go to a backup for Sunday’s race giving up an eighth place starting spot.
“I’ve never done that before in my entire career, so definitely unfortunate,” Truex said. “You know fortunately, I guess we don’t have a whole lot to worry about, it’s just frustrating. We had a good car. We had a good qualifying effort yesterday. It’s just going to be hard starting from the back.”
With 30 seconds left in the session, Alex Bowman got loose in the apex between turns 3 and 4, spinning and hitting the wall hard. He was able to drive his damaged Chevy away, but it didn’t take long for his crew to realize the backup will be needed. Bowman will give up his second-place start.
The news is nearly as bad as it gets for Bowman. While Truex has already secured a spot in the next round of the Playoffs, Bowman is 2 points behind the cutoff in 13th place and will now have a lot of work to do if he hopes to score even a decent finish Sunday.
Jimmie Johnson also spun and crashed in nearly the same spot a few minutes prior to Bowman. Johnson’s car only tapped the wall and he was able to continue, and the crew did not need a backup. Austin Dillon also spun but had no damage.
Chase Elliott ended up leading the final practice; Truex was second followed by Brad Keselowski, Clint Bowyer and Michael McDowell.
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