The NASCAR Cup drivers got a 50-minute practice on Friday, and they had very little time to learn the newly constructed 3.4-mile street course.
Reigning two-time NASCAR Cup champion Kyle Larson ran the fastest lap with a 2:16.588s, leading Todd Gilliland, Ty Gibbs, Connor Zilisch, and Carson Hocevar.
Corey Heim, Michael McDowell, Shane van Gisbergen, Austin Hill, and Alex Bowman filled out the remainder of the top ten.
The session wasn’t as chaotic as the NASCAR Truck or O’Reilly sessions that preceded it, but there were still plenty of moments.
Austin Cindric spun, Brad Keselowski nosed it into the tire barrier, and Jimmie Johnson went for an impressive 360-degree spin, standing in the throttle and somehow managing to keep it out of the wall.
Ex-F1 driver Kevin Magnussen is making his Cup debut this weekend with Trackhouse’s Project 91 entry, and while he had decent pace, he did find the wall. The Dane smacked the wall with the right-side of his car at the exit of the final corner, and then hit the wall again with the left-side at the exit of Turn 1.
Christopher Bell is racing with a fractured left wrist, and actually stepped out of his car halfway through the session so relief driver Brent Crews could run some laps in the JGR No. 20 Toyota.
Hill, who was one of just two Cup drivers allowed to take part in the lower division races and already had track time, was the first driver to break into the 2:17s.
Teams had three sets of tires available, and times continued to rapidly fall whenever a new set went on. Van Gisbergen was the fastest of all drivers before the third set of stickers went on, but SVG never actually put that set on due to some miscommunication with the team over the radio.
Van Gisbergen also posted the fastest five-lap average at 2:18.19s, followed by Hill and McDowell, who were about a second off of SVG in the five-lap averages.
No driver ran more than 15 laps on Friday, and while there were several minor incidents, there were no red flags.
San Diego NASCAR Cup practice results
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
– The Motorsport.com Team
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: motorsport.com
