Kyle Larson knows how important practice time before a race is to dial in his rhythm. “Somewhere, midpoint of that run, I can get into a rhythm and then you don’t get in a car for another 24 hours,” he said last month at the Martinsville practice session, frustrated by the standard 25-minute practice window. As the 2021 champ is winless for almost the past six months, those practice times carry even more weight as the pressure of Phoenix looms large to get his second title.

But NASCAR stepped up for the finale, doubling practice to 50 minutes with three tire sets, a nod to the finale’s high stakes. Yung Money, being the only prior champ in the final 4, knows how important practice sessions are to know the car and the track in the Next Gen era. But is that added time still enough?

Practic

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