By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor
CONCORD, N.C. – Day two at the new Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course has been just as eventful as the first, with Jimmie Johnson putting up the fastest time on the board, while others found themselves ensnared by the 17-turn, 2.28-mile layout.
Daniel Hemric led the way for the majority of the session before Johnson took over the No. 1 spot with a lap of 1 minute, 18.043 seconds at 105.173 mph. Hemric finished the session in second place, followed by Martin Truex, Jr., Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, and William Byron.
While those drivers got away scot free, others weren’t as lucky. Most notably Darrell Wallace, Jr. and Erik Jones, as both drivers made heavy contact with the tire barrier at the exit of the backstretch chicane, causing heavy damage to both cars.
The two incidents weren’t the first of the weekend for either driver and both were eerily similar as Wallace and Jones got slightly off-line through the chicane and were unable to get their cars corrected in time to make the corner, leading to the contact with the tire barrier.
Both drivers were evaluated and released from the Infield Care Center and they will have to go to a back-up car for Sunday’s race.
In addition to Wallace and Jones, Aric Almirola also spun in Turn 3, causing damage to the rear-end of his Ford. The team appeared to be trying to repair his car to keep from having to resort to a back-up car and the forfeiture of his 20th place starting spot.
Almirola’s Stewart-Haas Racing teammate, Kurt Busch, who won the pole on Friday evening, also had an issue as he lost power during the session and required a push back to the garage area.
The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series has one final practice session at 1:30 pm ET Saturday.
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