Who Will Ride Like the Wind in San Diego’s Street Race?

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NASCAR

Stratta’s Six: Who Will Master the Military Base for Inaugural San Diego Spectacle?

Fighter jets, aircraft carriers, and picturesque waterfronts are all part of the wildest course NASCAR’s ever built. Qualcomm Circuit is what San Diego’s Naval Base Coronado has morphed into this weekend. We are all about to see the first ever stock car races on an active military base. This spectacle will help celebrate 250 years of our great country. The Anduril 250 has many unknown twists and turns ahead on its 3.4-mile monster of a course. Here are a few drivers who could adapt on the fly and learn every corner fast enough to be in victory lane on Sunday.

Shane van Gisbergen

For a year and a half now, all hopeful Cup road race winners have had to topple Shane van Gisbergen. The Supercars ace from New Zealand has seven Sunday wins on nearly every road course he’s faced. Whether it’s a brand new track or a NASCAR mainstay, SVG has flat out embarrassed the Cup field more times than not. Van Gisbergen already owns one win this year, from Watkins Glen last month. Trackhouse Racing’s driver No. 97 had a recent preview trip to San Diego and already liked what he saw.

“I went to the track last week to do some promotional things, turns one and two, and the first half of the track was laid out,” van Gisbergen said. “But around the airfield, there was still choppers there. So, I only saw a little bit of the layout, but it was really cool. It’s going to be a really rough and technical course, a lot of unknowns. Thursday will be an important day, when we get on-site and can have a look around the track, get a feel for everything.”

“The surface changes stood out to me the most. Some of it’s really nice, there is new tarmac there in turn two and a couple of other places. Then, it’s really rough like Sebring (International Raceway), kind of with the big cracks and old asphalt. It’s going to be a real challenge to have a car that works all kind of surfaces and transitions to them.”

“Well, it’s going to be very bumpy, so it’s all about the car then. You’ve got to have a good suspension set up, soft and compliant. It kind of reminds me of Homebush (Street Circuit) in some ways. That’s a street track I did around the Olympic Park there in Sydney (Australia). The straightaways into little tricky sections and corners, nothing really flows, it’s all one to the other. Then we will put a corner here and here. It’s odd but that makes it a really good challenge. Getting in a rhythm will be really tough but will be important.”

SVG is no stranger to taking new courses, having won inaugural races at both Chicago and Mexico City. Continuing to defy and rewrite NASCAR road racing records, SVG looks to tie a legend this weekend. Should the Kiwi take Sunday’s checkers first, he would equal Tony Stewart with eight career Cup victories on the road. This would tie SVG for second-most all time road course wins. The No. 97 enters San Diego 14th on the Chase grid, 10 points clear of the cut line. What may be an inevitable win would likely propel him further up the standings.

Ty Gibbs

From one man who took a first win on the road to another, 2021 saw Ty Gibbs victorious in his O’Reilly debut on the Daytona Road Course. Five years later, the 23-year-old is in the midst of his career year in Cup. Toyota No. 54 looks to better a runner-up result from Chicago last season. Across the eight road races between 2025 and 2026, Gibbs owns three top-fives and a 13.3 average finish.

Having already broken through the glass ceiling of a maiden Cup triumph at Bristol, Gibbs eyes another trophy. Road races have been a strong suit in his young career. Do not be surprised if we see the 54 in the mix on Sunday.

Chris Buescher

One of very few men to ever beat SVG heads up in a NASCAR road race, Chris Buescher eyes road course retribution. The iconic battle against the Kiwi at Watkins Glen in 2024 remains Buescher’s most recent Cup win to date. That win also marked a first ever road course triumph for the No. 17. Across the entire Next Gen era, Buescher’s been all but a top-10 constant on road courses. Buescher was very candid in sharing that San Diego is a whole new beast unlike any track he’s taken on.

“I think it will be the hardest road race that anybody in this garage has ever run, just from the standpoint there are so many corners,” Buescher said. “I think we have labeled 16 [corners]. But if we labeled like some other tracks, it would probably come out to 30. It’s gonna be very difficult. It’s very narrow in places, but extremely wide in others. To the point where you’re almost trying to figure out where in the world you should be in that 100-feet of racetrack to set up for a corner. Trying to figure out what our spotters are gonna be able to see and what we’re gonna be left on our own to do. Everybody in this room knows that’s dangerous if you leave it up to the steering wheel holders to decide if we’re clear or not. But it’s gonna be rough in a lot of places. I’ve laughed about it. It’s fitting to be near aircraft carriers. We’re gonna be in the air quite a bit, and I think that it’s rough in a lot of ways. It’s gonna be tricky. It’s gonna be very difficult to go in there and figure out how to get that thing right from the get-go. All of the sim that we’re gonna continue to run and have run already, it’s not gonna be the real thing until you get there. I remember Chicago for the first time. All of the things you were able to do in the sim and knowing there was no penalty. The turn four entry speed that we carried in the simulator and then you get to the racetrack and you’re like, ‘Yeah, I can wreck a racecar here if I drive like the sim.’ But I’m telling you right now that’s exactly where we’re gonna be. We’re gonna have places like that, where we get comfortable in the simulator and we’re gonna say, ‘Oh, those bumps aren’t bad. I can drive through it,’ and you’re gonna get to the racetrack and that’s not going to be the case. It’s all we have and it is a very important tool. But it’s not reality at the end of the day. We’re all gonna have a lot of learning to do when we do get there.”

Much of RFK Racing and Ford have been in flux across recent weeks. Meanwhile, Chris Buescher has been a guiding bright spot. The No. 17 is solidly entrenched in the Chase at seventh in points. The Next Gen era has been Buescher’s most fruitful on all road courses, with a fitting 17 top-10s to date. The Texan also carries some recent momentum into SoCal, with top-10s over the last two weeks. It would be of little shock to see Buescher in another winning battle and maybe come out on top again.

Kyle Larson

Can six-time road course winner Kyle Larson recapture the magic in his home state? The reigning Cup champion’s improbable winless streak now stands at 40 races. Team 5 has shown signs of positive speed and a front running presence in recent weeks, however. Pocono saw Larson grab the lead on lap one and come home in fifth. Now shifting focus to an all-new venue, Larson’s been tearing up virtual asphalt trying to find his groove.

“I spent a little time working on the simulator last week, and I’ll do some more this week before we head out west,” Larson said. “The track is definitely bumpy, but that’s pretty normal for a street course – Chicago was bumpy as well. Right now, it’s all about figuring out the corners. I still need more laps to identify the most optimal lines, angles, and approaches through some of the sections.

“I feel like this race is a huge opportunity for us and for the product we can put on display. It’s going to be great to showcase the military. It will be pretty special to race on a military base too and experience everything that comes with it. I’m pumped and really looking forward to getting out there.”

Fifth at Pocono marked back-to-back top-fives and three in the last four weeks for Larson. The 5 team is slowly navigating their way forward again, with laps led over their last four starts as well. Larson was runner-up last fall on the Charlotte Roval, with road course prowess that tops most of the field. A return to winning form for the Californian may just be in store on the tarmac.

Tyler Reddick

COTA in March saw Tyler Reddick take an unprecedented and history-making third consecutive win to open this season. That marked the last time van Gisbergen was vanquished on a road course, with Reddick taking his fourth checkered flag. Reddick’s maiden win also came on another road course, at Road America four years ago on July 4th weekend.

“I think I have an idea what it’s going to be like,” Reddick said. “Car-wise, we got work to do. I would say everyone does. But yeah, a lot of chicanes. And obviously the walls, the street course-style race that we’ve experienced was, dare I say, pretty straightforward at Chicago. That didn’t necessarily mean it wasn’t challenging. But just the nature of the track, only 12 corners, I think, was easy to memorize and pick up on. A longer length course like Coronado, it’s just the learning curve and the sim for the weekend is going to take longer. It’s going to take longer for the track to pick up grip as we go.”

Reddick’s once seemingly insurmountable championship lead has dwindled down to a 19-point gap after Pocono. This came despite the No. 45 being second on The Tricky Triangle. Reddick is in desperate need of this upcoming two-week road course stretch. On paper, he should have the upper hand over his boss Denny Hamlin here. The man who’s led the points since the Daytona 500 looks to reestablish his early season dominance. 23XI Racing’s top dog is not far off of SVG in road course average finish (7.1) or laps ran in the top three (24%) since last year. Reddick already surprised many with a road course triumph this season. The No. 45 could easily do it all again and take a sixth victory of this campaign.

Chase Briscoe

Still searching for his first road course win, Chase Briscoe could buzz the tower on North Island. Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 19 was runner-up last year at Sonoma. That marked one of four top-10s in his last eight road course starts. Joe Gibbs Racing has been unstoppable in recent weeks with Denny Hamlin’s three-peat. Briscoe now wants his share of the winning spotlight too. The Hoosier was brutally honest about just how much work it’s taken to learn the daunting San Diego course.

“It is probably, I feel like, the most technical racetrack that I’ve ever ran on in my career,” Briscoe said. “You go to some road courses and, there’s just some corners that don’t really matter, truthfully. Like, they’re pretty standard. Like everybody’s going to be the exact same speed through them. I mean, San Diego, there’s not a single corner that is not like a massive time game or loss that just compounds the next one. Every corner is so technical and each, there’s like just, I was talking to Riley (Herbst) about it on the plane. There’s no flow. Every corner is so opposite of the one before it that it just makes it extremely like there’s just no flowing through sections. So, it just makes each corner, its own individual corner. That is so technical and how you have to set it up and what you have to do. And some corners are more important to give up the entry. Some are all about making entry because of that flow and the gain time loss of certain parts of the racetrack. So, it is extremely technical. I feel like it’s the most challenging place I’ve ever had to just challenge myself on the sim. Like to just really just dive into data and change how I’m driving completely. Even sometimes using two or three different driving techniques for two or three different corners in a row. It’s a really, really challenging racetrack. If a guy’s not put in the time, I mean, they’re going to get exposed, I feel like when they get there. Just because it’s one of those racetracks where if you haven’t prepared and done your due diligence. I mean, obviously the sim could not be accurate to real life at all. But as of now, it is an extremely challenging racetrack.”

Briscoe is on a bit of his own heater heading into San Diego. The No. 19’s been top-10 in three of his last five starts. Last week at Pocono also just saw Briscoe miss out from another solid finish with a 12th-place run. This stretch has seen Briscoe climb up the Chase grid, now ranked 12th in points. Toyotas have been the manufacturer to beat for almost every race this year. Briscoe should have more than a fighter’s chance on Sunday.

San Diego has the potential to be race of the season with so many unknowns ahead for every driver. The Anduril 250 will be unlike any show the Cup contenders have ever been thrown into. The California green flag will fly Sunday at 4 p.m. ET on Prime Video, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. With so many twists and turns ahead, this race will be a can’t-miss spectacle on many fronts.

Written by Peter Stratta

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Photo credits to Sean Gardner/Getty Images