NASCAR CUP SERIES SAN DIEGO STREET COURSE TEAM CHEVY POST-PRACTICE DRIVER QUOTES JUNE 19, 2026 |
Drivers in the top-10 of the NASCAR Cup Series driver points standings met with the media following the series’ 50-minute practice session Friday afternoon at San Diego. | MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom |
NASCAR CUP SERIESSAN DIEGO STREET COURSETEAM CHEVY POST-PRACTICE DRIVER QUOTESJUNE 19, 2026 |
Drivers in the top-10 of the NASCAR Cup Series driver points standings met with the media following the series’ 50-minute practice session Friday afternoon at San Diego. | MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom |
Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet – 1st in Practice“The course is extremely slick, a lot slicker than what we had anticipated through the simulator. Just kind of calibrating that, which I don’t think any of us are anywhere close to being comfortable enough to where we feel like we’re optimizing every section of the track. It’s just about creeping up on it, who can creep up on it quickly to learn, but also not step over the edge. I was just happy to get through that practice with speed, but also not crashing and making the weekend tougher on our team.” Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet – 33rd in Practice“The race track was good. It was very, very bumpy. It was a little tricky, just because there are a lot of bumps, but overall, I think it was pretty cool. It’s a little difficult. The tire wear is going to be huge, so it’s going to be interesting to see how we manage that. The tire fall-off was definitely more than I thought it was going to be. I think there will be a huge amount of fall-off with the rear tires, so that was the biggest thing that surprised me.” Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet – 21st in Practice“It was tough, at least it was for me. I was just trying to find markers. Any street courses I’ve been on, which has only been one in Chicago, it’s just one of those things where there’s not a lot of forgiveness, as far as over-running corners like you’re going to hit something, so you’re just trying to creep up on the pace and on the limits. To do that in 50 minutes is a chore, for sure. I feel like every lap, I was still finding another limit here and another limit there. Certainly, I still have a long ways to go, but I thought we made some significant progress on the last run.” Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet – 5th in Practice“I had fun. I enjoyed the track. It’s a little sketchy, for sure. The most interesting part, because obviously the tires wore out so much, is that it looks very Formula 1-esque with the rubber. The groove was super narrow already, so all the marbles were right outside, so you could almost have like a cheat sheet of the groove because you could just see on the edge of what everybody was running with the marbles and stuff. It makes me a little nervous of how it’s going to be because I don’t have a lot of experience with that amount of marbles if we can pass and not just instantly slide the next corner. The track flows a lot more than you would expect it to with the way it looks.” How was the tire wear?“I don’t know if it’s the bumps that are wearing the tires out, just as much as the different concrete and asphalt throughout the course, but there were a lot of spots when in six or seven laps, I was spinning the right-rear really hard in a lot of places. I kind of chalked it up as I’m normally good for about five laps on a road course and then my rears are complete gone. But it seemed like everyone else had the same sentiment, so I don’t feel too bad if that’s the case.” |