After Jimmie Johnson expressed his concerns about NASCAR’s limited practice schedule, the past week saw renewed debate around how this is affecting drivers in the Cup Series. With Dale Earnhardt Jr. coming in full support of the seven-time champion, HMS driver Kyle Larson was asked about his take on NASCAR limiting practice in recent years. Safe to say, the 2021 champion is in favour of the current schedule.
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Speaking on SpeedStreet with IndyCar driver Conor Daly, Larson expressed that considering his background in dirt racing, where they get only 3 to 5 laps before a race, the 20 minutes in the Cup Series is more than he is used to.
The 2021 Cup champion did add though, “I don’t know I mean, road courses, like places I struggle I’d like to have more practice and then places I feel like we have an advantage with our setups and stuff I would like no practice, so just, I guess selfish. I like the way things are.“
Even for his Indy 500 attempt, although Larson believes the week-long practice sessions are beneficial for him from an operational and technical perspective, he did state one issue he could face, a sentiment quite visible in his driving.
“I feel like for a guy like me who is so green I think there’s an opportunity to learn a lot those days of practicing but then I think there’s also opportunities to trick yourself into thinking something’s going to be a certain way and then you’re totally surprised when you get into the race.”
What did Dale Earnhardt Jr. say about NASCAR’s limited practice schedule?
Speaking on the Dale Jr. Download, Junior expressed how drivers like Jimmie Johnson, Carson Kvapil and Shane van Gisbergen are at a disadvantage compared to the rest of the drivers with the current practice slots.
He said, “Whether it is that veteran seven-time Cup champion coming back to compete with us, or it is these young drivers, or these Europeans or foreigners trying to come in and compete with us and be successful… There’s all these great stories that are being stifle by the lack of practice.”
NASCAR cites two main reasons for the limited practice schedules – to cut down on costs and to prevent bigger teams from taking an advantage with additional inputs from longer practice sessions.
With the likes of Dale Jr. and Jimmie Johnson expressing discontent, maybe the smaller teams themselves may advocate for longer sessions as the season goes on.
