By Andrew Clarke
Date posted: 20 June 2026
Kyle Larson topped a chaotic NASCAR Cup Series practice session at the new Qualcomm Circuit on Naval Base Coronado near San Diego, California on Friday, setting the fastest time in 50 minutes of running on the freshly built 3.4-mile (5.47km) street course.
The two-time defending Cup Series champion posted a best lap of 2m16.588s in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, a speed of 89.613 mph (144.2 km/h), to lead Todd Gilliland, Ty Gibbs, Connor Zilisch and Carson Hocevar in the top five.
Corey Heim, Michael McDowell, Shane van Gisbergen, Austin Hill and Alex Bowman completed the top 10.
Spins, wall contact and a tyre mix-up
The session produced plenty of incidents as drivers got their first taste of the new circuit. Austin Cindric spun, Brad Keselowski nosed into the tyre barrier, and Jimmie Johnson executed a 360-degree spin while somehow keeping his car out of the wall.
Former Formula 1 driver Kevin Magnussen, making his NASCAR Cup debut with Trackhouse’s Project 91 entry, made wall contact twice: on the right side of the car exiting the final corner, then on the left side at the exit of Turn 1. He finished 29th.
Christopher Bell is racing with a fractured left wrist and handed the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to relief driver Brent Crews partway through the session. Bell ended up 36th.
Van Gisbergen was the fastest driver before teams fitted their third set of tyres but never ran that set due to a radio miscommunication with his crew. The New Zealander still posted the fastest five-lap average at 2m18.19s, ahead of Hill and McDowell. Van Gisbergen, Hill, McDowell, Ty Gibbs and Gilliland were the five quickest on consecutive averages.
No driver completed more than 15 laps, and there were no red flags despite the incidents.
What’s next
Qualifying for the Anduril 250 is at 4.30am AEST Sunday, with the 75-lap race at 6am AEST Monday.
Practice results — NASCAR Cup Series, Qualcomm Circuit, Naval Base Coronado
Pos
No.
Driver
Team
Car
Time
Speed (mph)
1
5
Kyle Larson
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
2m16.588s
89.613
2
34
Todd Gilliland
Front Row Motorsports
Ford
2m16.881s
89.421
3
54
Ty Gibbs
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota
2m16.924s
89.393
4
88
Connor Zilisch
Trackhouse Racing
Chevrolet
2m16.960s
89.369
5
77
Carson Hocevar
Spire Motorsports
Chevrolet
2m17.001s
89.342
6
67
Corey Heim
23XI Racing
Toyota
2m17.039s
89.318
7
71
Michael McDowell
Spire Motorsports
Chevrolet
2m17.284s
89.158
8
97
Shane van Gisbergen
Trackhouse Racing
Chevrolet
2m17.320s
89.135
9
33
Austin Hill
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet
2m17.609s
88.948
10
48
Alex Bowman
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
2m17.681s
88.901
11
45
Tyler Reddick
23XI Racing
Toyota
2m17.878s
88.774
12
22
Joey Logano
Team Penske
Ford
2m17.882s
88.772
13
35
Riley Herbst
23XI Racing
Toyota
2m17.962s
88.720
14
11
Denny Hamlin
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota
2m18.055s
88.660
15
24
William Byron
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
2m18.213s
88.559
16
10
Ty Dillon
Kaulig Racing
Chevrolet
2m18.342s
88.476
17
60
Ryan Preece
RFK Racing
Ford
2m18.391s
88.445
18
12
Ryan Blaney
Team Penske
Ford
2m18.476s
88.391
19
16
AJ Allmendinger
Kaulig Racing
Chevrolet
2m18.629s
88.293
20
23
Bubba Wallace
23XI Racing
Toyota
2m18.633s
88.291
21
9
Chase Elliott
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
2m18.713s
88.240
22
38
Zane Smith
Front Row Motorsports
Ford
2m18.819s
88.172
23
19
Chase Briscoe
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota
2m18.918s
88.110
24
51
Cody Ware
Rick Ware Racing
Chevrolet
2m19.082s
88.006
25
41
Cole Custer
Haas Factory Team
Chevrolet
2m19.117s
87.984
26
17
Chris Buescher
RFK Racing
Ford
2m19.167s
87.952
27
3
Austin Dillon
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet
2m19.182s
87.942
28
47
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Hyak Motorsports
Chevrolet
2m19.312s
87.860
29
91
Kevin Magnussen
Trackhouse Racing
Chevrolet
2m19.375s
87.821
30
42
John Hunter Nemechek
Legacy Motor Club
Toyota
2m19.423s
87.790
31
4
Noah Gragson
Front Row Motorsports
Ford
2m19.470s
87.761
32
1
Ross Chastain
Trackhouse Racing
Chevrolet
2m19.516s
87.732
33
7
Daniel Suarez
Spire Motorsports
Chevrolet
2m19.693s
87.621
34
21
Josh Berry
Wood Brothers Racing
Ford
2m20.115s
87.357
35
6
Brad Keselowski
RFK Racing
Ford
2m20.346s
87.213
36
20
Christopher Bell
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota
2m20.509s
87.112
37
2
Austin Cindric
Team Penske
Ford
2m21.132s
86.727
38
84
Jimmie Johnson
Legacy Motor Club
Toyota
2m21.654s
86.408
39
43
Erik Jones
Legacy Motor Club
Toyota
2m21.851s
86.288
The full Kyle Larson story is in the current Auto Action Premium edition. Grab your copy at newsagents nationwide or head to autoaction.com.au to buy online or subscribe.
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