more pre-qualifying charlotte notes

In the last post, I identified an initial group of drivers of particular interest to me coming into this race weekend.  Here's a few more notes -- mostly about those guys and their performance in the last three 600 mile races and on 1.5 mile tracks this season.

• Martin Truex -- I noted how he's dominated the last two 600 races.  In looking back another year, it is even more clear cut how good he is in the 600.  In the last three 600 races, he has led the most laps in each race and had the most fastest laps in each race.  He has finished 5th, 1st and 3rd in those three races.  At 1.5 mile tracks this season, he has a Top 5 finish in three of the four races -- with a season best 2nd place finish in the last race at Kansas.
  
• Kevin Harvick -- Harvick has been ridiculously good on the 1.5 mile tracks this year.  He has won 3 of the 4 races -- Atlanta, Las Vegas and Kansas.  In the other race at Texas he finished 2nd.  So his average finish at the 1.5 mile tracks so far is 1.25!  In the last three 600 mile races, he has finished 9th, 2nd and 8th.  He has had between 22-47 fastest laps in those races and led between 26-45 laps (except for 2016 when Truex led 392 of 400).
  
• Kyle Busch -- Kyle has finished in the Top 10 at all 1.5 mile track races this season.  He won at Texas, was 2nd at Las Vegas and most recently finished 10th at Kansas.  Last year in the 600, he probably had the second best car to Truex.  Kyle led 63 laps and had 67 fastest laps.
  
• Joey Logano -- He's finished in the Top 7 in all 4 races this season at 1.5 mile tracks.  His best of those, was a 3rd place in the last race at Kansas.
  
• Denny Hamlin -- He has 2 Top 5 finishes at 1.5 mile tracks this year.  The problem is that in the other two 1.5 mile track races, he was outside the Top 15.  In the 600, Hamlin has two straight Top 5 finishes and he was 8th three years ago.  He's run between 4-38 fastest laps in those races and even led 53 laps in 2015.
  
• Kurt Busch -- Kurt has three straight Top 10 finishes in the 600.  In 2015, he had 61 fastest laps and 118 laps led -- trailing Truex narrowly in both categories that race.  In 2016 and 2017, he had only a handful of fastest laps and laps led in the 600, but he finished both races in 6th and had a +7 and +6 position difference in those races.  He's finished in the Top 8 in three of the four races on 1.5 mile tracks this year.
  

We'll post more Thursday after qualifying and then again late Saturday night after all the practices are complete.