San Diego NASCAR Street Race:
Full Chaos Recap

Corey Heim won the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series Anduril 250 at Naval Base Coronado, San Diego — taking his first career Cup victory in only his 13th career start and etching his name into the record books as the first driver ever to win on this extraordinary 3.4-mile, 16-turn street circuit.

Heim started 13th. He wasn’t the fastest car early. However, when the race’s defining chaos struck on lap 32, the 23-year-old from Marietta, Georgia stayed out of trouble and found clear track he could work. He steadily moved through the thinned field, led three laps in the closing stages, and ultimately beat teammate Bubba Wallace to the line by 10.3 seconds. Kyle Larson completed the podium in third for Hendrick Motorsports.

Moreover, the win secured Heim a spot in the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series playoff picture — with the championship picture taking a dramatic new shape after what happened to the pre-race favourite.

Everything had been building to a showdown between Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch — NASCAR’s two most celebrated road and street course specialists. Then Austin Hill’s rear brakes locked up entering Turn 1 on the lap-32 restart, and the afternoon exploded.

Hill, running on the inside for the Stage 2 restart, missed the apex, pushed wide into Zilisch, and sent the 19-year-old Trackhouse Racing driver hard into the outside wall. Van Gisbergen — who had built up a full head of steam and gone three-wide before backing out — had no room to escape. He collected Hill from behind and went into the wall as well. The chain reaction spread through the tight street circuit, ultimately collecting nine cars in total: van Gisbergen, Zilisch, Hill, Ryan Blaney, Daniel Suarez, Riley Herbst, John Hunter Nemechek, Ty Gibbs, and Michael McDowell.

Van Gisbergen drove his battered No. 97 Chevrolet back to the garage and refused to speak in detail to media outside the care centre, telling reporters to “ask the next guys.” His summary of a brutal afternoon: “I’m filthy.” He finished 38th and scored just one championship point. Furthermore, officials declared a red flag — the first in NASCAR Cup Series history at Naval Base Coronado — to allow crews time to repair the concrete barriers and clear nine damaged cars from the circuit.

For context on what the physics of racing crashes looks like on a tight temporary circuit, that restart was textbook. Three-wide into a 90-degree left-hander with concrete on both sides is not a situation that rewards mistakes — and Hill made one.

Christopher Bell Exits — Brent Crews Steps In

The wreck wasn’t the only talking point before the halfway mark. Championship contender Christopher Bell had started the Anduril 250 despite carrying a fractured wrist — an injury suffered earlier this month. He lasted until the first caution of the day before climbing out of the No. 20 Toyota and handing the car over to substitute driver Brent Crews. Bell finished 35th in the points classification for that start.

Meanwhile, championship leader Tyler Reddick didn’t even get a clean start. NASCAR penalised the No. 45 team and sent Reddick to the rear of the field for unapproved adjustments made after splitter repairs. He spent the afternoon grinding through traffic and ultimately crossed the line 25th — a damaging result in the 2026 standings battle.

Additionally, Bubba Wallace had his own drama mid-race, losing a wheel on-track, which triggered one of the earlier cautions. He recovered to finish second — arguably the drive of the day given the adversity. Zane Smith and AJ Allmendinger rounded out the top five.

It’s also worth noting the historic footnote buried inside the result: motorsport legend Jimmie Johnson, the seven-time Cup champion and El Cajon native, started from the back after missing a chicane on lap five and finished 28th in what he has indicated will be one of his final Cup starts before the 2027 Daytona 500.

Stage Results: Blaney and Preece Claim Points

Ryan Blaney claimed the Stage 1 win, banking valuable playoff points before the chaos unfolded. Ryan Preece then took Stage 2 honours in a result that reflected the strategic uncertainty of the new circuit — a track where pit strategy and tyre management matter enormously on a surface that rubbers up rapidly through the afternoon.

The race produced 20 lead changes across 13 different drivers — a number that reflects just how unpredictable the Coronado layout proved. Experienced hands like Denny Hamlin, who had won the previous three races for Joe Gibbs Racing, found themselves swallowed by the chaos and finished 14th.

As a point of comparison: Shane van Gisbergen won Sonoma Raceway’s equivalent event last season leading 97 of 110 laps from pole. This race was nothing like that. The San Diego street course proved it plays by its own rules.

Full Race Results: Anduril 250 — Naval Base Coronado

Source: Motorsport.com official results · NASCAR.com

Playoff Implications: Heim In, Reddick Hurts

Corey Heim’s win locks him into the 2026 NASCAR playoffs automatically — a remarkable outcome for a driver who is technically part-time in 2026 before going full-time with 23XI Racing in 2027. The win is also the second time in three years that an inaugural NASCAR street race has produced a first-time Cup winner, following van Gisbergen’s debut victory at the 2023 Chicago Street Race.

Championship leader Tyler Reddick absorbed a painful 25th-place finish, while van Gisbergen — who entered as the pre-race favourite and is widely considered one of the best street course specialists on the grid — left with just one point. Both results have tightened the standings heading into Sonoma Raceway next weekend (June 28), where van Gisbergen will be looking to rebound quickly. “Luckily we got a good one next week,” he noted, though pointed out that being placed in Group 1 qualifying complicates his preparation.

As for how NASCAR’s championship scoring works: a win earns the driver a playoff berth regardless of points position — which is exactly why Heim’s result matters so much. He hasn’t accumulated the points of a full-season driver, but the win is the golden ticket that counts most.

The Real Takeaway: Street Courses Humiliate Favourites

The San Diego NASCAR street race produced something that oval circuits almost never do: the outright favourite — van Gisbergen at -250 odds — finished 38th. The championship leader finished 25th. The man who had won the previous three races finished 14th. And the winner started 13th in his 13th Cup start.

That randomness is partly what makes street courses compelling and partly what divides opinion among NASCAR purists. On an oval, setup mastery and raw speed generally sort the field by the end. On a 16-turn naval base circuit with concrete barriers at every apex, one brake lockup on a restart is enough to end the race for nine cars simultaneously. Safety car periods, restarts, and the impossibility of passing cleanly through some sections mean the result owes as much to survival as speed.

Corey Heim, to his credit, survived smarter. He hit the wall twice early in the race, damaging his tyres — yet somehow found a way to make the car work better in the second half. “I hope I don’t wake up from this dream,” he said in Victory Lane. His teammate Kyle Larson — a driver who rarely struggles for pace on any surface — acknowledged the result immediately: “He’s a super talented race car driver, and it’s neat to see somebody get their first win, especially at a challenging track like this.”

NASCAR will return to California next weekend at Sonoma Raceway (June 28) — a road course where van Gisbergen won last season. Expect him to have something to say about that.