By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
Friday was test day at Michigan International Speedway for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Well, technically practice day, but there was plenty of uncharted waters reached in both practice sessions, as the 2019 aero package made its first laps on track.
The 2-mile speedway has been placed high in terms of expectations for competition. Last week at Pocono, Denny Hamlin said Michigan will likely be “one of the best races you’ve seen there” due to the package.
Following Friday’s opening practice sessions, drivers were fairly happy with their abilities to pass in the draft.
“Everything is about the draft,” said Daniel Suarez. “You need to have a good car in the draft and you have to be able to drive well to have good stability and be able to turn on exit of the corner.”
Suarez led the opening session at 188.882 mph (38.119 seconds) and finished fourth in practice No. 2. Stewart-Haas Racing’s successful second practice saw all four cars in the top five.
“That is extremely important,” he said of stability in the draft. “I feel like qualifying, our cars have good raw speed which is good. I am actually pretty happy the way my car was driving in the draft, but it wasn’t great yet.”
Suarez believes partners will be ever-crucial during the 400-mile race Sunday.
“Not just one, many,” he said of partners. “I personally think that this is going to be not quite like a superspeedway but maybe 70 percent or 60 percent like it. You are going to have to work together.
“If you have some partners around you and you want to make a move and you know they will follow, that will be good. If you don’t trust the guy behind you, they can spin you out. It is going to be exciting. I am excited about that.”
Erik Jones ranked sixth and seventh quickest in the practices, respectfully, and realized how Sunday could see more passing than at most prior Michigan races.
“It reminded me a lot of trucks here when I was racing those,” Jones said. “How you would get the runs and everybody was lined up and trying to find clean air, make a move and it was tough. Making a move, you really had to make sure you were clear of somebody before that line got rolling again.
“Just trying to figure it out and figure out what you needed your car to do to make passes. I think you’re going to be able to pass, actually quite a bit in the race with what I felt there. That’s a positive for sure. Just have to see where it keeps going.”
Michael McDowell was far down the speed charts (30th, 26th), however, still had the oportunity to take notes on the effects of the close-knit mid-pack draft. Though it may not be a superspeedway pack, McDowell thinks it will be a “tighter” group of cars.
“I am still not sure what to expect,” McDowell said. “We are going to be running together. I don’t think it will be packed racing