CONCORD, N.C. (AP) – Ryan Newman and the rest of the drivers get 3 hours of practice for the Coca-Cola 600, all of it during the day.

Yet NASCAR’S longest race is run almost entirely after the sun goes down, a discrepancy not lost on Newman.

“It’s the crew chief’s call and I’ll do what he says, but it is pretty crazy to be practicing when we’re practicing,” he said. “We’d be better off not practicing.”

The surface at Lowe’s Motor Speedway also is notoriously fickle when the temperature changes, adding another wrinkle for the teams. In qualifying Thursday night, Newman went out fourth, while Jimmie Johnson was the last of 52 drivers to try.

Predictably, the track had cooled about 20 degrees, leading to better grip for Johnson. He set a track record of 187.052 mph, only slightly better than Newman.

Jeff Gordon, who also went out late, gained nearly a second from his best lap in practice and ended up third, and he attributed most of the improvement to the temperature.

“It’s amazing how much this track picks up and how much grip it has when the sun goes down,” Gordon said. “I wasn’t expecting it, that’s for sure.”

The Nextel Cup drivers had an off day Friday, with the only track activity coming from the Busch Series. Practice for the 600 resumes Saturday morning, when the teams will have their best chance to simulate race conditions.

“We’re definitely going to have to base a lot of stuff on our notes from the past,” said Johnson’s crew chief, Chad Knaus. “We’ll practice at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, and the track will be somewhat cool. That’ll give us some indication.”

Last weekend, all practice for the non-points Nextel All-Star Challenge was during the day, even though the race started about 9:30 p.m. The handful of the drivers in that event got some track time under the lights, but the strategy was much different.

Instead of a series of short sprints – the all-star race is 90 laps, split into three segments – Sunday’s race is essentially a test of endurance for the car, the driver and the team.

“You see a big difference in that extra hundred miles,” said rookie Brian Vickers, who qualified fifth. “Not just guys falling out of the seat tired but just trying to stay focused for that length of time.

“The cars are built to go 400 to 500 miles every week, and we get all we can out of them. Once a year, we expect them to go 600 miles.”

Until recently, Nextel Cup qualifying at the track was held on Wednesday, with Thursday night reserved for practice. NASCAR altered that schedule to give the teams an extra day away from the track, and that extra time at night was lost in the process.

If Gordon has his way, that’ll change.

“The only disappointing thing I’ve seen from last week and this week is that the practices are absolutely ridiculous,” he said. “I don’t get it. I’m definitely in favor of trying to have practice sessions – especially for the races – at a much closer time to when we’re going to race.”

The lack of preparation sometimes leads to a less competitive race. If one or two teams hit on the setup, they have an advantage that others can’t possibly make up during the race.

And the ones with the most success in the past just keep running up front.

“I feel like it would be beneficial for everybody and the race would be that much better if we would practice when we race,” Vickers said. “That takes a lot of guess work out. Instead of having two or three really fast cars, you’ll have five or 10 really good cars, because they can actually work in the conditions they will be racing in.”