The NASCAR Cup Series field is nothing but consummate professionals.
While the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series had several on-track incidents during their respective practice sessions, the NASCAR Cup Series didn’t have those same problems.
Yes, there were a couple of on-track incidents — Austin Cindric spun in Turn 12, Brad Keselowski nosed into the tire barriers in Turn 2, Kevin Magnussen smacked the wall off Turn 16, and Jimmie Johnson did a 360 exiting Turn 1 — but the practice ran 50 minutes without a single interruption.
All 39 drivers entered in Sunday’s Anduril 250 at Naval Base Coronado had three sets of Goodyear tires for the 50-minute NASCAR Cup Series practice, so there were ample opportunities for everybody to come to the garage and make tweaks to run the fastest possible lap.
Defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson topped the speed charts in Friday’s practice in San Diego, posting a lap time of 136.588 seconds on his 11th lap around the 3.4-mile street course. Larson kicked the weekend off on Thursday with the announcement that he would be the cover athlete for NASCAR 26 by doing burnouts on the USS Midway flight deck.
Todd Gilliland was second-fastest in the session, about three tenths of a second slower than Larson. Ty Gibbs was third, posting his fastest time on his 14th and final circuit around the 16-turn course, despite a major snap that could have easily resulted in a massive crash.
NASCAR Cup Series rookie Connor Zilisch, one of the favorites for Sunday’s Anduril 250, was fourth, with Carson Hocevar rounding out the top-five. Corey Heim, Michael McDowell, Shane Van Gisbergen, Austin Hill, and Alex Bowman completed the top-10.
Riley Herbst (13th) and Ty Dillon (17th) had notable, solid top-20 runs in the session, as well. Cody Ware ranked 22nd.
Kevin Magnussen, making a one-off start as part of PROJECT91, had a solid outing during his first time piloting a NASCAR Cup Series vehicle, spending time in the top-20 in practice before an incident. Driving the No. 91 Qualcomm Chevrolet, Magnussen smacked the wall exiting Turn 16, damaging his car, and then went off into Turn 1 at 100%, going wide and smacking the wall again, causing even more damage. The No. 91 ranked 29th in practice.
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series rookie Brent Crews got an opportunity to jump behind the wheel of the No. 20 CRAFTSMAN Toyota Camry XSE in practice on Friday, since he’ll be on standby for Christopher Bell during the race — who continues to recover from a broken wrist suffered at Michigan.
Crews ran four laps at speed in the No. 20, and impressively, matched the fastest time laid down by Christopher Bell — which was good enough for 36th-quickest in the practice session. It is unknown whether the Norman, Oklahoma-native will run the full race on Sunday.
The NASCAR Cup Series will return to the racetrack for qualifying on Saturday, June 20 at 2:30 PM ET on Prime Video, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, before Sunday’s Anduril 250 at 4:00 PM on the same networks.
Photo: NASCAR
