2026 Anduril 250 (San Diego) Race Recap

By Adam Carabine

Though it was in a slightly different capacity, Denny Hamlin returned to Victory Lane for the fourth week in a row.  Hamlin, one of the co-owners of 23XI Racing, was celebrating this weekend as a boss, rather than as a driver, as part-time entrant Corey Heim earned his first ever Cup Series victory at the Coronado Street Course in San Diego! 

Let’s have a look at how it all shook down!

Lap 1:  Green flag – to the surprise of no one, Shane Van Gisbergen is on the pole.  Carson Hocevar next to him on the front row.

Lap 2:  Austin Dillon spins on his own, looks like he might not be able to get it refired, but manages to get going again before the caution comes out.

Lap 3:  Carson Hocevar takes the lead for a short time, but SVG gets it back.

Lap 4:  Ryan Blaney is now up to the lead.

Lap 5:  SVG has fallen to third, complaining of no rear grip in his car.

Lap 6:  Jimmie Johnson overcooks it into a corner and winds up crashing through some tire barriers.  No caution.

Lap 9:  Some takers already on pit road, as tire wear proves to be much more present than teams were expecting.

Lap 10:  More pitters, Blaney still leads, then it’s Bubba Wallace, SVG and Ryan Preece.

Lap 11:  Ryan Blaney pits from the front, Wallace takes over the lead.  Daniel Suarez and team incur a penalty for crew members over the wall too soon (note that this Coronado Street Course features backwards pit stops – teams approaching from the right rather than from the left).

Lap 12:  SVG gets back to the lead, but then CAUTION – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is slow on the track and can’t seem to get any power back up and running. 

Lap 13:  Christopher Bell, sporting a broken wrist from the nasty crash a few weeks back, pits and gets out of the car.  Brent Crews is the relief driver climbing in to pilot the 20 car.

Lap 14:  Green flag – SVG and Chris Buescher on the front row.

Lap 16:  Contact between Preece and SVG as they duke it out.  Blaney has the lead now, but they trade some blows.

Lap 17:  Some pit road takers – their last chance to flip things ahead of the stage break coming in three laps. 

Lap 19:  CAUTION – Bubba Wallace’s wheel comes off after a botched pit stop.  He’ll be held two laps.  This ends the stage under caution.

Lap 20:  Blaney wins Stage One, followed by 60, 5, 54, 16, 34, 77, 22, 88 and 24.

Lap 21:  Penalty for Chase Elliott, also crew members over the wall too soon.  Teams still adapting to the backwards pit stops.

Lap 23:  Green flag, Preece and Connor Zilisch on the front row.  Zilisch gets the lead by Turn 2!

Lap 24:  SVG gives Chris Buescher a love tap and spins him in a super narrow part of the course.  Somehow he doesn’t really hit anyone, and manages to get the car pointed in the right direction again, no caution.

Lap 29:  Connor Zilisch’s lead is now up to 5 seconds.

Lap 30:  CAUTION – Brent Crews, who is now driving the 20 car, misses a shift and the engine blows up on him. 

Lap 32:  Green flag, Zilisch and Austin Hill.  In turn one there is a BIG WRECK.  Austin Hill locked up his rear tires, and pushed himself and Zilisch into the wall.  SVG gets major damage being right behind them, Ty Gibbs gets caught up a bit, and others.  RED FLAG for TRACK REPAIRS.  It’s the end of Zilisch, Hill and SVG’s race.

Lap 34:  Back to green, Zane Smith gets the lead!

Lap 37:  Tyler Reddick spun, but didn’t hit anything.  It stays green.

Lap 38:  Zane Smith pits, Kyle Larson takes the lead.  Meanwhile Noah Gragson tangles with Kevin Magnussen and hits the wall.  Major damage which ends up taking him out of the race, but he managed to limp it back to pit road, no caution.

Lap 39:  Ryan Preece passes Riley Herbst for the lead after many others have started making their way to pit road.

Lap 40:  Ryan Preece wins Stage Two.  Followed by 35, 17, 16, 12, 77, 7, 1, 34, 22.

Lap 43:  Green flag, Preece and Buescher on the front row.  Big damage in the back of the pack to Josh Berry during a run-in with some others.

Lap 44:  CAUTION – debris on the track.

Lap 46:  Green flag, Preece and Buescher again.

Lap 47:  Now it’s Buescher and Ryan Blaney battling for the lead.

Lap 48:  Erik Jones and Austin Dillon trade some blows but it stays green.

Lap 49:  Chase Elliott spins, then Brad Keselowski gets a flat tire from some contact with Ricky Stenhouse Jr.  It still stays green, though!

Lap 50:  Bubba Wallace, who was held two laps earlier in the race, has made his way back on the lead lap and now runs 13^th. 

Lap 51:  Pit stops starting with 25 to go in the race.  Fuel-wise they should be okay, but tires have been challenging!

Lap 53:  Kyle Larson is leading, over 5 seconds to Corey Heim in the 67 car, but it’s still mid-pit cycle. 

Lap 54:  Issues for William Byron on pit road – his team is trying to make repairs after some contact with the wall.

Lap 55:  Ryan Blaney pits.

Lap 60:  Leaders Larson and Heim pit.

Lap 61:  CAUTION – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. hit the wall, then blew up, and dropped some fluid on the track.  There were some cars still in the midst of the pit cycle, which makes timing and scoring a bit weird.

Lap 62:  Pit road is open under caution – a bunch of takers.

Lap 64:  Green flag – Carson Hocevar and Kyle Larson on the front row together.  Hocevar gets the lead, but Tyler Reddick pulls up to P2, followed by Corey Heim.  Near the end of the lap, Reddick takes the lead, and then Heim bumps Hocevar, sending him for a spin! No caution.

Lap 71:  Tyler Reddick’s lead is just under a second.  Heim is right on his tail.  Only five laps remain, but they’re long laps.

Lap 73:  Side by side battle for the lead with Reddick and Heim! Heim gets the lead!

Lap 74:  Issue for Reddick, he suddenly has a tire going down.  He has to fall back while the tire carcass barely hangs on.  Bubba Wallace up to P2.

Lap 75:  Corey Heim hangs on and wins the race!  This is his first Cup Series victory in his 13^th start.  Reddick with the flat tire ends up finishing 25^th. 

Corey Heim showed that he deserves the Cup Series ride he’s been signed to for next season, as he captured the win in his first ever Cup Series Road Course start.  Overall it was a grand success on the Coronado Street Course!

Next week we are in Sonoma for more road course racing!