Saturday’s schedule for Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers was something akin to bankers’ hours.
With Sunday’s Pocono 400 being an impound race, drivers showed to qualify their cars and had no further on-track obligations.
Not that Larson had any objections after qualifying seventh for Sunday’s race (2 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“Well, we could go play golf,” quipped Larson, who has developed a real affinity for the game. “There are some really nice courses around here.”
But there’s also a practical benefit to holding two practice sessions on Friday and impounding the cars after qualifying on Saturday. That schedule eliminates one practice session versus a typical weekend that features practice before qualifying on Friday and two more sessions a day later.
“Saturday is always a tough practice, because the first practice is always so early in the morning that you don’t really learn a whole lot until the last few minutes of it anyway,” Larson said. “Not that it’s a waste of time, because you always learn something.
“But this is a way for the teams to save a lot of money. If we can sacrifice a practice session, I think it’s good for the health of the teams.”
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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