Austin Hill claims O’Reilly Series win at Naval Base Coronado

Posted on June 20, 2026June 21, 2026 by Holly Cain

CORONADO, Calif. — Austin Hill’s thrilling last-lap pass earned the veteran his first career road-course victory in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Saturday on a dramatic and ultimately emotional afternoon for his Richard Childress Racing team — capping a long and competitive day of racing in the inaugural United Rentals Driven to Serve 250 at Naval Base Coronado.

It marked the first win for the legendary RCR team since unexpectedly losing its NASCAR Cup Series driver, Kyle Busch, four weeks ago after the two-time premier series champion passed away unexpectedly, due to complications from pneumonia. The emotion in Victory Lane Saturday was palpable — the celebration was both a nod to Hill’s achievement and an ode to Busch and what he meant to the team and to the sport.

“It’s extremely special, just to finally check that box of getting that road-course win, we’ve been so close so many times,” Hill said, whose No. 21 RCR Chevrolet had to be towed to Victory Lane after the rear wheels of the car were flattened after he performed a long burnout around Busch’s No. 8 logo painted on the track.

Hill, who now also drives the car Busch once drove in the Cup Series, claimed Saturday’s win, which may have included a little divine intervention from his former teammate.

“I’m not gonna lie, I started talking to this guy a little bit down the straightaways,” Hill said, pointing to his hat, which carries the No. 8 Busch carried for the team. “I was like, ‘Man, Kyle, if you’re here, give me something, let me find another gear.’

“And for whatever reason, the car started coming to life and the two leaders got together and when there was blood in the water behind the 54 [runner-up Taylor Gray] I knew it was going to be tough to get around him, that it was going to be a battle. And when I got clear of him, I was very surprised to see how much of a gap I got on him.

“I can’t thank these guys enough, everyone on this 21-team, at RCR. We’ve been through a lot these last several weeks. … Man, this is awesome, so cool.”

His Hall of Fame owner, Childress, was openly emotional as he greeted Hill in Victory Lane.

“It’s great to win here and we all have Kyle in our hearts,” said Childress, his voice cracking in the poignant scene.

“You may not show it on the outside, but you do here,” he said, pointing to his heart.

Hill consistently showed Saturday he had a strong car — winning the opening stage — throughout an eventful day that included two red flags, totaling more than an hour of race stoppage.

With five laps remaining in the 60-lap event, JR Motorsports’ Carson Kvapil led Gray and looked to claim his first career win and extend an already record 11-race road-course winning streak for the JRM team. However, with three laps to go, Gray pulled his No. 54 Toyota alongside Kvapil’s No. 1 Chevy and the contact bounced Kvapil’s car off a tire barrier and out of the lead.

Two laps later, Hill was able to get around Gray as they took the white flag signaling the last lap of the race. The 32-year-old Georgia-native went on to win by a convincing 1.127-second margin over Gray, who led the most laps (16) on the day and won Stage 2.

Gray blamed “wheel hop” for his contact with Kvapil.

“Pretty disappointed in myself, really proud of everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Racing. … Obviously would love to be in Victory Lane right now, that’s where my guys deserve to be,” Gray said.

“Got really bad wheel hop, that’s what it boils down to,” he added. “He raced me tight like he should and I wheel-hopped underneath him.”

Kvapil and Gray spoke briefly after the race.

“It’s really hard to make peace with that, obviously, I feel like that robbed me and everyone at this Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet,” Kvapil said. “They brought us a really fast car and gave us position to win a race and obviously we didn’t. That one really hurts.”

Haas Factory Team’s Creed finished third, followed by Kvapil and JRM’s Sammy Smith — who turned in an impressive rally forward after an eventful, full-contact day of his own.

Hill’s RCR teammate Jesse Love also rallied on the day, finishing sixth after starting from the last row of the 37-car field. Viking Motorsports’ Parker Retzlaff, who led five laps, finished seventh with Austin Green, Harrison Burton and Corey Day rounding out the top 10.

Two red flag periods slowed the action, with the first coming out on the first lap and the latter one coming out to properly repair the wall and fencing following a 23-car incident that eliminated many of the day’s strong cars.

While racing up front, HFT’s Sam Mayer nicked the inside wall at Turn 1 and careened hard into the other wall, collecting Anthony Alfredo’s No. 96 Chevrolet and starting a chain reaction among the mid pack behind. The impact was enough to bring out a 43-minute red flag.

“First of all, I just want to say sorry to everyone in the field,” Mayer said, noting that he planned to stop by every single team affected and apologize to them. “I’m looking at the people involved in the crash and it’s literally everyone. Just sorry to everyone who has to put work in now because of my mistake. Just brutal. Definitely hate it for everyone.

“I mean, what am I doing? I’ve got to be better. I’ve got to be a lot better. I’m going to learn from this and I’m going to better. Gotta stay locked in no matter what happens to you. Just keep moving forward.”

MORE: Mayer somber, Alfredo OK after huge wreck

Almost immediately after the race start, there was an hour-long delay to repair a sewer vent cover in Turn 5 that came off in traffic and impaled into Day’s No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Once the cars rolled off again — NASCAR allowed Day to get the four laps back he lost while his crew repaired his Chevy. He restarted last and then got a speeding penalty during a subsequent stop for service on Lap 13.

The series championship leader, JRM’s Justin Allgaier, had an eventful day and retired 17 laps early after being collected in multiple incidents on the day. Despite the DNF, the series’ best five-race winner continues to hold an amazing 224-point advantage over reigning series champion Love atop the championship standings.

And a historical note, Jeremy Clements, 41, finished 15th in his 548th series start, driving his family-owned No. 51 Jeremy Clements Racing Chevrolet. It gives him the most starts for a driver in series history, eclipsing the previous record set by Kenny Wallace.

The O’Reilly Auto Parts Series returns to action in next Saturday’s Pit Boss/FoodMaxx 250 at the renowned Sonoma Raceway, a couple of hours north up the California coast (5:30 p.m. ET, The CW, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Note: Inspection was completed in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series garage with no issues, confirming Hill as the winner.

Posted on June 20, 2026June 20, 2026 by Zack Albert

CORONADO, Calif. — Sam Mayer took his share of the blame and then some after a major pileup that halted Saturday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race, with multiple cars pounding and moving the retaining barrier on the temporary street course at Naval Base Coronado.

Each of the three drivers eliminated from the United Rentals Driven to Serve 250 by the massive 25-car calamity were OK after a check at the track’s infield care center. Prime among them was Anthony Alfredo, who reported leg numbness after taking the brunt of the heavy impact and was stretchered to a waiting ambulance.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Coronado

Mayer was despondent after his miscue in the 36th of a scheduled 60 laps.

“First off, I just need to apologize for everybody in the field and everybody in the garage,” Mayer said. “I cannot be making mistakes like this, and I’m just heartbroken right now. I mean, I can’t be doing that. That’s just irresponsible, it’s embarrassing. I’ve got to be better.”

Mayer’s No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet was on the inside lane after a final-stage restart, contesting fourth place with Alfredo’s No. 96 Viking Motorsports Chevy. As the field barreled into first turn, Mayer clipped the inside wall at the slight right-hander, an error that angled his car into Alfredo’s, carrying both into the outer barrier. The violent impact pushed the concrete wall back several feet, prompting a red flag that lasted 43 minutes, 10 seconds for repairs. It also left nearly two dozen cars collected in the melee.

Alfredo, who said Mayer apologized to him in the care center, initially said he struggled to extract himself from his damaged car after losing feeling in his left knee. He said the feeling returned after five minutes: “They said I probably just hit a nerve or something in there really hard, and like it just went, like, asleep, basically, when you hit your funny bone, but in my knee.”

WATCH: Mayer discusses wreck

The crash was as severe as it was quick, and Alfredo managed to signal the Coronado crowd with a thumbs-up and a raised fist as he was led away.

“I’m feeling a lot better now,” Alfredo said. “Just at first had to catch my breath, and then had to kind of wiggle my arms and legs a little bit, see what was hurting most because it was all over. Yeah, I had just seen the replay sort of as spotty. I don’t know how the 41 ended up in my lap like that, but he just clobbered me, and we hit about as head-on as you could. So, hitting straight concrete like that doesn’t feel good. It sucks, because this is one of the most fun tracks I’ve ever driven.”

Both of the principal drivers involved took the early exit especially hard, considering what was at stake — a victory in a showcase race and the opportunity to capitalize on premium final-stage positioning. Mayer had the chance to build more momentum, heading into the San Diego event with three top-five finishes in the last four events.

“We were up front, thought we could win to be honest with you, and we were looking really good, and I just didn’t want to get used up on those restarts there towards the end,” Mayer said, “and I thought if I upped my aggression level from what it was, I could be in a really good spot, and I just overstepped my bounds. This one hurts a lot because San Diego is so freaking cool. This race track is so much fun. These guys work so hard. I’m literally going to have to go walk around the entire garage and apologize, because there’s what, 20-some people involved? Like, that’s just embarrassing. I can’t be doing that, and I hate it for everyone who’s involved because they literally had no choice but to just drive in it, and it’s on me.”

Alfredo was bidding for his first top five of the 2026 campaign, his first with the newly expanded Viking Motorsports group. He felt that a productive strategy call and his own road-racing improvement might have put him in position.

“Yeah, I’m pissed off, honestly, when it’s something that’s preventable,” Alfredo said. “It’s just racing. I’m just mad because you don’t know how many opportunities you’re going to have like that, especially for us. I say we’re getting more competitive, and I feel like we’re going to have a lot more chances, but you never really know, and this is probably the most level playing field we’ll have all year, right? Coming to a new track, especially a road course. I struggled on them the first time I was learning them, but I put a ton of work into trying to figure this stuff out, especially with some of the better guys and the ringers that come and race with us.

“So to go toe to toe with them and have the raw pace to win, and then obviously a strategy on top of that that was probably going to win us the race or certainly give us a top three was really rewarding, and I just hate we couldn’t finish that off.”

Posted on June 20, 2026June 20, 2026 by Staff Report

As NASCAR Cup Series drivers prepare for the next two weeks of left-and-right turns, many expect to see Trackhouse Racing driver Shane van Gisbergen atop the leaderboard, with the No. 97 Chevrolet being the favorite to land in Victory Lane.

After taking his sixth career Cup Series pole Saturday in qualifying, SVG is on the right path to regaining some momentum after back-to-back finishes of 30th or worse. Other drivers hope to generate their own momentum with a good result in Sunday’s Anduril 250 at Qualcomm Circuit on Naval Base Coronado (4 p.m. ET, Prime Video, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: Starting lineup | Saturday recap

Given the challenging nature of the 3.4-mile street course near San Diego, California, could the 75-lap street showdown be a race of attrition? Here’s a look at other drivers to keep an eye on and the full projected results for Sunday’s Cup Series race.

DRIVERS TO WATCH:

CONNOR ZILISCH: Entering the 17th race of the 2026 season, Zilisch is still looking for his first career top 10 in the Cup Series. Last month at Watkins Glen International, the Trackhouse Racing rookie nearly earned that breakthrough result at the premier level until a flat tire late in the race relegated him to 20th. Given his seven wins and nine top fives on road courses in 10 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series races, many expect to see Zilisch’s road-course prowess translate to the Cup level at some point. After qualifying eighth for the Anduril 250, the No. 88 Chevrolet driver will certainly be in the mix and join teammate Shane van Gisbergen as one of the favorites.

MICHAEL MCDOWELL: In the last seven road-course races in the Cup Series, McDowell has five top-five finishes, including a runner-up finish last month at Watkins Glen. During the Next Gen era, the driver of the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet has nine top fives and 15 top 10s on road courses. Given his road-course strength and how he has demonstrated his ability to keep up with Shane van Gisbergen at times, do not be surprised if McDowell is in the mix late Sunday afternoon after qualifying ninth.

KEVIN MAGNUSSEN: The long-time Formula One veteran becomes the fourth driver to participate in Trackhouse Racing’s Project 91 program, joining the likes of van Gisbergen, Kimi Räikkönen and Hélio Castroneves. Magnussen’s respectable 21st-place qualifying effort shows that the No. 91 Chevrolet has plenty of potential to be competitive in his Cup Series debut. In 2010, his father, Jan Magnussen, made a one-off Cup start with Phoenix Racing and finished 12th in his only NASCAR contest at Sonoma Raceway. But given the younger Magnussen’s years of experience racing on street courses in F1 and additional starts driving heavier vehicles in sports car racing, expect Project 91’s newest driver to turn heads if he can avoid potential street-course carnage.

MORE: San Diego photos

FULL PROJECTED RESULTS FOR ANDURIL 250 (4 p.m. ET, Prime Video)

Finish	Car Number	Driver
1	97	Shane van Gisbergen
2	45	Tyler Reddick
3	54	Ty Gibbs
4	12	Ryan Blaney
5	5	Kyle Larson
6	17	Chris Buescher
7	71	Michael McDowell
8	20	Christopher Bell
9	24	William Byron
10	16	AJ Allmendinger
11	88	Connor Zilisch
12	19	Chase Briscoe
13	9	Chase Elliott
14	1	Ross Chastain
15	7	Daniel Suárez
16	60	Ryan Preece
17	11	Denny Hamlin
18	77	Carson Hocevar
19	23	Bubba Wallace
20	33	Austin Hill
21	48	Alex Bowman
22	2	Austin Cindric
23	34	Todd Gilliland
24	38	Zane Smith
25	6	Brad Keselowski
26	3	Austin Dillon
27	35	Riley Herbst
28	41	Cole Custer
29	67	Corey Heim
30	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
31	42	John Hunter Nemechek
32	43	Erik Jones
33	10	Ty Dillon
34	4	Noah Gragson
35	21	Josh Berry
36	51	Cody Ware
37	91	Kevin Magnussen
38	84	Jimmie Johnson

Posted on June 20, 2026June 21, 2026 by Zach Sturniolo

CORONADO, Calif. — Setting up a race car to compete at an active United States military base sounds like an objective straight out of a video game.

For crew chiefs in the NASCAR Cup Series, that became a reality in preparation of Sunday’s inaugural contest at Naval Base Coronado, just across the bay from San Diego.

MORE: Schedule: Naval Base Coronado | Starting lineup

Their notebooks were slim but not empty — not after three years of street racing in downtown Chicago from 2023 through 2025. Stephan Doran, crew chief for pole-winner and street-course-dominator Shane van Gisbergen, said prior experience at the Chicago Street Course gave them a starting point, but Friday’s 50-minute practice revealed the more realistic challenges he and his competitors will face this weekend.

“I just leaned on what seemed like the closest track we had been to, which was Chicago, and kind of started there, but just had Plan A, B, C, D for if something was different — which it was,” Doran told NASCAR.com Saturday. “The tire wear was extreme compared to Chicago. Corner speeds are similar, though. I think shocks and springs are similar to what we had in Chicago, but tire wear was not, so we’ve had to adjust for that through the weekend.”

Goodyear Racing delivered a familiar road-course tire to San Diego, utilizing the same compounds used in all six road and street races in 2025 as well as earlier this year at Circuit of The Americas and Watkins Glen International. But Coronado’s course presents many unique differences — among them, four different surface types between worn asphalt, fresh asphalt, worn concrete and fresh concrete. Following Friday’s practice, NASCAR allotted teams an extra set of tires for Sunday’s race, upping their total to 10 dry-weather sets after feedback from teams.

“It makes it a little easier,” said Doran, who oversees SVG’s No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet. “I think everybody was stressed about just having enough tire to get to the end of the race, where I think we have that now. We still don’t have extras, really, at least if the tire wear stays the same for Sunday, which I think it will. I think it’s going to be extreme all day.”

Drivers and crew chiefs alike compared the tire wear to what was seen last fall at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, a combination road course and oval that produced excessive tire wear on its worn asphalt surface.

“The Roval, we kind of had that all day and had to manage it,” Doran said. “It’s just a much longer lap here, so we can go less laps here than we could at the Roval.”

Sean Gardner | Getty Images

Travis Peterson, crew chief of the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet for driver Michael McDowell, acknowledged “tire life” will be the deciding factor in teams’ strategy through Sunday’s 75-lap race. But how exactly long the tires will last remains to be seen. No driver in Friday’s practice completed even 10 consecutive laps before returning for adjustments.

“The reason they gave us that set is because we’re gonna need every single one, so it’s going to certainly be interesting,” Peterson told NASCAR.com. “I don’t know that anybody’s ran a long enough run to have any idea what’s going to happen (Sunday) yet until we get into Stage 1.”

A typical strategy executed on road courses is flipping the stages: pitting at least two laps before the stage end for better track position when the following stage begins. But one lap around Naval Base Coronado is 3.4 miles. That mileage adds up quickly with two green-flag laps on those Goodyears. So, will flipping the stages be a viable strategy Sunday?

“I think it kind of goes out the window,” Doran said. “I think you’re gonna see a lot of guys split the first two stages just because they simply don’t have enough tire to run and flip it at the end. Yeah, I think it changes it a lot.”

Peterson, however, isn’t totally throwing that option out of his playbook.

“I don’t know that it eliminates it because if you’re far enough back, I still think track position is worth a lot,” Peterson said. “But I think there’s a good chance you see people just running it like a normal intermediate and splitting the stages and finishing the stages and all that stuff, so time will tell.”

If the race plays out that way, that plays into the hands of the frontrunners, who would otherwise have to forfeit stage points to retain track position. Doran believes that could play into his and SVG’s hands around the San Diego course.

There are also the challenges of navigating the aggressive elevation changes around the circuit — most notably a cresting hill between Turns 1 and 2 that has led to leaping race cars as well as a significant dip on the straightaway exiting Turn 5. Those bumps create another factor for crew chiefs to consider when balancing their race cars.

“We knew it was going to be rough,” Doran said. “Shane was out here last week and just said, ‘Man, there are some really gnarly bumps,’ so we did work on our dampening package just to try to control that and not get on the shock limiters too much. He said it was rough over that area, but not really anything that was an issue. All the stuff in the corners was fine. It was just those few areas we talked about, where it’s either bottoming out or getting air, which is kind of crazy to talk about.”

Posted on June 20, 2026June 21, 2026 by Zack Albert

CORONADO, Calif. — Judging by Jimmie Johnson’s social media and general right-at-home vibe, his nostalgia meter is pegged. Returning to his old haunts and connecting with old friends from his nearby hometown of El Cajon has been like spinning memory lane’s greatest hits, and every traditional taco stand in the area has seemingly been the benefactor of Johnson’s corporate card.

After years of being away from the Southern California area, the seven-time Cup Series champion is indulging in the familiar surroundings.

“There’s nothing like going home,” says Johnson, who has shared in the anticipation with the rest of the NASCAR industry for the inaugural San Diego street race at Naval Base Coronado. Johnson’s eagerness to participate carries extra meaning. He’s here as a hometown favorite for an event that blends his personal life with his professional walk, his past with his future.

“I didn’t make it all the way back to see my childhood home,” Johnson said of the 20-mile drive, “but to be in the area to drive around and see everything, the memories just come flooding back.”

Johnson aims to make more treasured moments when the green flag waves on Sunday’s Anduril 250 (4 p.m. ET, Prime Video, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), which brings NASCAR’s top division to the San Diego area for a first-time showcase on an active military base. Johnson will be participating for the Legacy Motor Club team that he co-owns in what’s scheduled to be his next-to-last race before he wraps up his Cup Series driving days in the Daytona 500 next February.

Johnson’s part-time competition schedule since his sunset ride-off from the full Cup Series circuit has been a mix of all sorts of motorsports disciplines and big-ticket events that most racers would covet. Sunday’s show presents an opportunity, both in exposing the sport to a new spectator crowd and for Johnson to mark another sought-after race from his post-retirement checklist. It’s a moment that he couldn’t foresee.

“No way,” Johnson said. “I mean, especially with all the tracks that were here when I was growing up, they’re all gone. So to be able to bring this temporary street circuit and have it here is a unique opportunity that I never saw coming, and I think that it’s really wise for NASCAR to do this. There are so many pockets of race fans around the country that can’t get close to NASCAR, and the amount of race fans here and the racing culture that’s in the San Diego area is deep. All my off-road friends are here and have never been to a Cup race, so this is really going to do well for the racing world.”

David Jensen | Getty Images

Johnson has had his hand in many motorsports realms in his journey, from his racing upbringing to his more recent late-career explorations. Ron Malec, his longtime car chief during his Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 team heyday, has a connection to Johnson that predates both of their Cup Series tenures. He rattles off all sorts of machines that Johnson has been exposed to, and even an incomplete list is an impressive one — sand buggies in the desert, trophy trucks, four-wheelers, hydroplanes, and the grassroots short-track American Speed Association (ASA) circuit where they first crossed paths in Malec’s home state of Wisconsin.

The vehicular versatility served Johnson well, both in his rise to racing’s majors and in his golden-year extracurriculars. So has his “California cool” demeanor.

“You have to be able to adjust to all those different conditions, so I think that helped him a lot,” Malec told NASCAR.com earlier this week. “I think his personality probably developed from all those different sports he was in, and it’s just kind of a West Coast personality. It seems like they’re very outgoing. He was very outspoken and easy to talk to, and seemed like everyone always got along with him, which is a huge trait that has obviously propelled his career to where it is now. That’s a gift, for sure.”

Johnson’s aplomb in any garage area and his Hall of Fame credentials have gained him entry into racing events that most mortals can only lust after. In recent years, he’s competed in the Indianapolis 500, teamed up for the Garage 56 project’s participation in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and has become a regular in prestigious vintage events at the Goodwood Revival meet in England. Add San Diego to his personal list this weekend.

MORE: Fantasy Fastlane | Paint Scheme Preview

“I’m looking at a few other different championships to dabble in next year,” Johnson said casually in his Saturday morning availability at Coronado, hinting at another off-road return, potential events in NASCAR’s Craftsman Truck Series, or who-knows-what with four wheels and an engine. He’s managed to balance those personal on-track aspirations with his oversight of the growing Legacy M.C. organization, staying competitive on the team executive side as well.

“I see all the races he does and all the events, and the only thing I question is owning your own race team,” Malec said with a laugh. “It’s a lot of work, but obviously he loves the sport and he wants to invest in it and keep it growing and going the way that he’d want it to, and that’s excellent. Obviously, it’s hard to get away from racing once you’ve been involved in it, and I mean I still stay involved locally around here, and it’s what you know and it’s what makes you happy, and it’s really cool to see him living out those dreams. Indy 500 and Le Mans, those are bucket-list items that not a lot of drivers will ever get to do, and he does it and he excels at it, which is all cool to see.”

Malec has kept his own involvement in racing going since his departure from Hendrick Motorsports nearly five years ago. A Wednesday phone conversation overlaps with driving his family to a go-karting event, and he’s also made some local sprint-car starts, restored race cars and competed in vintage events all while working as a manager at a manufacturing facility for Milwaukee Tool.

Like Johnson, he’s also had a homecoming of sorts in America’s Dairyland, settling down in Elkhart Lake — home of the picturesque Road America circuit.

“It’s just cool to go to your hometown. I know what it’s like,” Malec says, noting the parallels that Johnson is experiencing this weekend. “I mean, I moved back to Wisconsin for a reason. It’s just, it feels like you’re at home, you know. It’s the fans, and it’ll be family there and people that he probably hasn’t seen in a while. It’ll be special for sure.”

Reminiscing isn’t the only objective this weekend. Johnson will pull double-duty, racing the No. 84 Legacy Motor Club Toyota in Sunday’s main event, two days after making his first Craftsman Truck Series start in 18 years in a Tricon Garage entry. A charmed moment came early in Friday’s first Cup Series practice, when Johnson spun at the exit of Turn 1, looping his car completely around and keeping it rolling without the contact that has snared so many others on the 3.4-mile Qualcomm Circuit.

“Just did an awesome 360,” Johnson reported on the team communications. Stoked, radical and gnarly all in one.

Veteran crew chief Chad Johnston was among those on the other end of that transmission, and he has a sense of this weekend’s importance for his driver/employer. As a Hoosier native, Johnston has savored similar feelings in trips to the Brickyard through his career. “They all pay the same points, but I know how special Indianapolis is to me every time we go there and how cool it would be to win,” Johnston said. “So I can imagine how cool it is for him to be able to race in his hometown, it’s got to be similar.”

The competitive fires still burn for Johnson, who at age 50 will be the oldest driver in Sunday’s field. He’s wiser and a little more silvery through the beard and temples, but still showed some of that familiar, spry talent in Friday’s Truck Series go, qualifying among the top five and leading laps before the race’s frantic nature jostled him from contention.

Post-race, Johnson bristled at the lack of decorum among the younger crop of racers who make up the series’ core of regulars, noting the carnage that he was eventually caught up in. While he’s noted that having fun and delighting in the experience are top priorities, there’s still a desire to put forth his best effort when he straps in for Sunday — something the newer generation might learn from.

“You never take that out of somebody like him,” Johnston said. “He’s a seven-time champion, what he’s won 80, 90-some races in the Cup Series? You don’t lose that, right, whether you do it full-time or not. I used to crew chief full-time, and I have a hard time watching the races, just because I can’t watch them for fun, because I’m so competitive. So I don’t think you ever lose that. When he’s 80 years old, I think he still has that.”

Sean Gardner | Getty Images

Posted on June 20, 2026June 21, 2026 by Zach Sturniolo

CORONADO, Calif. — AJ Allmendinger has no plans to step away from racing any time soon.

Allmendinger told reporters Saturday at Naval Base Coronado that he’s set to return to Kaulig Racing’s No. 16 car in the NASCAR Cup Series with no changes imminent.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Allmendinger said. “Like, I laugh when I see that. I mean, according to Chris [Rice, team CEO], I’ve got a contract till like 2032, so I’m not going anywhere. So I do kind of laugh about, like, ‘oh, next year?’ I’m like, that’s not on my mind because I’m here for life in one way or another.”

MORE: Schedule: Naval Base Coronado | At-track photos

On Sunday, Rice confirmed that Allmendinger will race for Kaulig so long as he chooses, stating Allmendinger’s contract runs through 2029 with options through 2032.

“But it’s up to him how long he wants to do the full-time racing stuff,” Rice said. “He’s got to give himself a timeline, and so do we, but at the same time, he’s going to help us like he has over the last seven years build this program.”

A NASCAR competitor since 2006, Allmendinger has become a critical piece of Kaulig Racing since joining its O’Reilly Auto Parts Series program on a part-time basis in 2019 after a long tenure in Cup with JTG Daugherty Racing. After three wins in part-time competition, Allmendinger moved into a full-time O’Reilly ride in 2021 and 2022 before his return to Cup in 2023. The 2024 campaign was again spent chasing an O’Reilly championship, but Allmendinger has found his home again in the Cup Series since the start of the 2025 season.

A native of Los Gatos, California, southwest of San Jose, Allmendinger currently sits 21st in the Cup Series points standings with an average finish of 20.4. On its surface, those middling statistics may not leap off the page — and they certainly don’t satisfy the ever-competitive Allmendinger. But Kaulig’s Cup program — encompassing both Allmendinger and Ty Dillon — no longer receives manufacturer support from Chevrolet because of the team’s affiliation with Ram in the Craftsman Truck Series.

“I don’t like that excuse — for me,” Allmendinger said. “Now, do I look at how we’re running, and in my head I’m like, it’s pretty good for everything we’re up against? Yes. But if I just settle for that, I wouldn’t be doing my job for my race team.”

Sean Gardner | Getty Images

That has led to frustrated venting on the radio — a vocal release not uncommon for Allmendinger, but notable as he navigates the significant challenges limiting his race team. His frustration stems not from team performance but from his own performance.

“I just don’t want to suck for my race team, honestly,” Allmendinger said. “Like, that’s the ultimate goal. My frustration comes from me. When I’m mad — and believe me, I don’t get in my rental car after the race and go, ‘No, that was OK.’ Like, I get into the rental car after the race, like, God, just … but I’m frustrated with myself because I want to be better for us.”

Rice believes the onus lies on the race team to improve the vehicles Allmendinger and No. 10 Chevrolet racer Ty Dillon drive each Sunday. The team may not have the manufacturer support at the Cup level that it had previously, but that isn’t dissipating Rice’s optimistic outlook.

“We got heart,” Rice said. “I’ve been saying that a lot. (No. 16 crew chief) Trent Owens, (technical director) Mike Cook, (No. 10 crew chief) Andrew Dickeson, all the guys that lead the competition side of it, we have heart. And we have those people that want to win and they want to do well, and that’s what it’s all about, right? Those guys and girls pushing to do better than they’re supposed to do.

“When you put Kaulig Racing down — and what I mean by that, when you hold them down, we fight. We’re a different race team. We’re so different than everybody else that it’s crazy, and that’s OK. You need different people in the sport. When you look at the NFL, the Cleveland Browns are different. They don’t win a lot, but they’re different So we’re a different group. And thanks to (team owner) Matt Kaulig for allowing us to be different.”

And for Allmendinger, as long as there is room for improvement — for himself and for the whole of Kaulig Racing — he is happy to keep racing as long as he’s contributing to the success of the program.

“I think it’s always whether I’m doing a good enough job and I’m further moving us and our race team [forward],” Allmendinger said. “That’s what goes back to that frustration part of it. That’s why I’m always like, I need to be better to keep moving us forward. But that’s up to Matt and Chris. But yeah, at the end of the day, we’re not going anywhere.”

Posted on June 20, 2026June 21, 2026 by Zack Albert

Track: Qualcomm Circuit at Naval Base Coronado
Location: Coronado, California
Track length: 3.4 miles
When: 4 p.m. ET
Where to tune in: Prime Video, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Race purse: $11,849,963
Race distance: 75 laps | 255 miles
Segments: 20 | 40 | 75
Sunday’s starting lineup | Cup Series pit stall assignments

Cup Series stars cleared for Coronado takeoff

CORONADO, Calif. — After all the pageantry and preparation that’s gone into making the first visit to Naval Base Coronado such a spectacle-saturated event, it’s time for the weekend’s final mission.

One of the NASCAR Cup Series season’s showcase races will set sail Sunday in the Anduril 250 (4 p.m. ET, Prime Video, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), the first premier series stock-car racing event on an active military base.

The temporary 3.4-mile Qualcomm Circuit has already been an inviting one, both for the throngs of fans venturing onto the Coronado grounds and for the concrete barriers lining the course that have welcomed all forms of contact since on-track activity began. The challenges of the bumpy layout — a creation of the mix of runways, roadways and rough patches — are one thing, but so is the competition, led by pre-race favorite and street-course expert Shane van Gisbergen.

MORE: Weekend schedule | At-track photos

The Trackhouse Racing ace has won six of the last seven Cup Series races on road courses, including his first triumph of the season last month at Watkins Glen. SVG scoffed, however, at the notion that Sunday’s showdown might be a shoo-in, with the rest of the field left to duke it out for second place.

“It pisses me off a bit, like I feel like it disrespects my competition,” van Gisbergen said. “I hold my competition to a really high level. So yeah, I feel like I’ve spent the last little while talking myself down because I know that there’s 10 guys probably that can win on pure pace. In NASCAR, so much stuff can happen with strategies and stages, that there’s even more guys who can win. So I don’t think it’s going to be easy, that’s for sure.”

SVG’s stellar track record runs headlong into another immovable force in Denny Hamlin, who enters San Diego riding the sterling midseason wave of a three-race winning streak, part of a 4-for-5 tear in the win column in recent weeks. No one has been better during that span, but his hopes for a four-race sweep have some history weighing against it: Hamlin is 1-for-63 on road courses in his Cup Series career, with that lone win landing in 2016 at The Glen.

“There’s always a chance,” Hamlin said with a wry grin, “as long as we’ve got a heartbeat.” One positive factor in his favor: Each driver in the field is on virtually equal track-time footing for the inaugural Coronado event.

“I felt good coming into this weekend on speed and feel like, again, like everyone else, feels like there’s a little bit more to get there,” Hamlin said. “So I’m optimistic, as I would be at any road course that we’re going to. It’s the same for everyone, no one’s got any extra experience coming here, so it’s whoever can adapt the quickest.”

Not surprisingly, van Gisbergen adapted the best in Saturday qualifying, putting the No. 97 Trackhouse Chevrolet on the pole position at the front of the 39-car field for Sunday’s start. The new circuit has proven to be a treacherous one so far, a proving ground rife with multiple incidents in its sometimes snug contours.

The other inescapable reality so far this weekend has been the buzz, which multiple drivers said they sensed both in San Diego and on the island base’s surroundings. The event has already introduced big-league stock-car racing to a new crowd in its first two days, with more anticipated to take in the main event.

“It just seems like everybody that I’ve come across is in some way, shape or form is either aware that this is going on or have planned, they’re here because of this and that’s a really cool thing,” Chase Elliott said. “I know there’s a lot of energy around our events in general at other places, too, but this being unique and just the logistics around it, I feel like we’ve gotten a real good firsthand look at just how excited people are, and yeah, that’s been really fun to be a part of.”

Alejandro Alvarez | NASCAR Digital Media

In the details …

Since the Next Gen racer was introduced in the NASCAR Cup Series for the 2022 season, several drivers have distinguished themselves with their performance on road courses — tops among them van Gisbergen, in just his second full year as a premier-series regular.

Plenty others have built respectable average-finish numbers with consistent efforts on the tour’s challenging, twisting layouts. Here’s an accounting of those nine drivers averaging at least a top 15 in road-course competition during the Next Gen era:

Driver	Average finish	Starts
Shane van Gisbergen	6.71	14
Chris Buescher	9.76	25
Tyler Reddick	9.88	25
Chase Elliott	10.88	24
Christopher Bell	11.16	25
Michael McDowell	12.40	25
William Byron	14.16	25
AJ Allmendinger	14.28	25
Ty Gibbs	14.91	22

Speed reads

Race-day essentials:

• San Diego hub: Key information, pit stalls, additional results | Read more
• Paint Scheme Preview: Fresh designs for San Diego’s inaugural | View gallery
• Behind the scenes: Inside the building of Qualcomm Circuit | View gallery
• Hauler Talk: Pocono’s positioning and Coronado nuggets | Listen now
• Power Rankings: Hamlin steady atop Top 20 for San Diego | This week’s ranks
• Sunday Setup: Tires on top of mind for crew chiefs | Read more

Posted on June 20, 2026June 20, 2026 by Holly Cain

CORONADO, Calif. — Although Shane van Gisbergen has strongly maintained that the NASCAR Cup Series’ first visit to Naval Base Coronado presents a challenge for him, the series’ reigning road course king once again proved himself up for the challenge.

The Trackhouse Racing driver won pole position for Sunday’s inaugural Anduril 250 (4 p.m. ET, Prime Video, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) with a 90.809 mph lap around the 3.4-mile, 16-turn Qualcomm Circuit. It was the sixth career Cup Series pole position for the driver of the No. 97 Trackhouse Chevrolet.

The New Zealander has won the last four races from the lead starting position.

“Amazing to get the first pole here (at San Diego),” Van Gisbergen, 37, said. “Really cool. It’s tough, I’ve said it a couple of times. It’s your first lap of the day, and there’s three, four, five corners you’re probably going through for the first time of the day as your qualifying lap starts. And yeah, I made a meal of it, but I guess the rest of the lap was pretty decent and made the time back.

“My long runs weren’t that great yesterday. The Nos. 5 [Kyle Larson], 33 [Austin Hill] and 54 [Ty Gibbs] were faster than me yesterday, I believe. But my car is better today than yesterday, so who knows. We’re definitely in a good place to start and tomorrow will be a bit of a gamble and a lottery, I think, with the tires. It’s going to be hard for the crew chiefs and strategists to get it right tomorrow, for sure.”

Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar will start in his No. 77 Chevrolet alongside Van Gisbergen on the front row — the best road course qualifying effort in the 23-year-old’s young Cup Series career — and it gives Chevy its third front row grid sweep of the season.

Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney and fellow Ford driver Zane Smith of Front Row Motorsports will start from the second row, with Todd Gilliland, Smith’s teammate, and Spire Motorsports’ Daniel Suárez starting together from Row 3. Roush Fenway Racing’s Ryan Preece and Trackhouse Racing’s Connor Zilisch will start seventh and eighth.

The last seven road-course races have been won from the front row, and 22 of the 28 Next Gen-era road-course events have been won from the top eight positions on the grid.

It’s a promising start for the 2024 series champion Blaney, who has not claimed a top-five road-course finish in the Next Gen car.

“I’ve said it before, I’m an average road racer, I don’t think I excel at this stuff very often, but I work hard to get better, and I thought we had an OK day yesterday [in practice],” Blaney said. “Had a good lap. Didn’t know I had it until that final chicane, but good overall effort and felt really good after the 12 boys worked on it overnight. I’m looking forward to tomorrow. It’s going to be a heck of a race. Tire degradation is going to be massive, so going to be who can manage rears [tires] better. Just a cool event, cool to be out here.

“You plan as much as you can, but sometimes you’re going to have to audible in the race and understand where you’re at and what you want to do and then see what the tire wear is like tomorrow. That’s the fun part about these new things. This whole weekend has been super cool to be here on the base. I appreciate them having us. The fans have been amazing the whole weekend, and it should be a great day tomorrow for sure. As far as racing goes, I don’t know. Manage rear tires and don’t hit any concrete. I hope I can do those two things, and we might have a shot.”

MORE: Paint Scheme Preview | Naval Base Coronado results hub

Cup Series points leader Tyler Reddick spun and brushed the wall on his second qualifying lap, but the driver of the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota was 17th fastest on his opening run around the course. Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin — who comes to the weekend on a three-race winning streak and trails Reddick by only 19 points in the standings — will roll off 25th in the No. 11 JGR Toyota.

His teammate, Christopher Bell, who is nursing a broken wrist from an accident two weeks ago at Michigan International Speedway, qualified 37th. He said that this weekend will be a game-time decision on whether he starts the race and then hands the car over to Brent Crews to finish. Crews has been fast at San Diego, claiming the pole position for Saturday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race on a lap faster than Van Gisbergen’s pole-winning speed.

Hendrick Motorsports owns the best road-course record — leading the series in poles, wins, top-five and top-10 finishes in the last 15 road-course races. However, their best qualifying driver on Saturday was reigning series champion Kyle Larson, who will roll off 14th on the 39-car grid.

Trackhouse Racing’s Project 91 driver, former Formula One racer Kevin Magnussen, qualified 21st in his NASCAR debut, driving the No. 91 Chevy. Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, who is competing in his hometown, will start 37th in the No. 84 Legacy Motor Club Toyota.

Posted on June 20, 2026June 21, 2026 by Staff Report

See where your favorite NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series drivers will pit this weekend at Naval Base Coronado.

NASCAR Cup Series

NASCAR Cup Series Anduril 250 at Naval Base Coronado on Sunday (4 p.m. ET, Prime Video, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series

NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series United Rentals Driven to Serve 250 at Naval Base Coronado on Saturday (5 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: How to watch NASCAR on The CW

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Navy 250 at Naval Base Coronado on Friday (7 p.m. ET, FS1, NRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Posted on June 20, 2026June 20, 2026 by Staff Report

Goodyear Racing will bring familiar road-course tires to NASCAR’s first visit to San Diego’s Qualcomm Circuit at Naval Base Coronado, with all three national series set for a full weekend of racing around the 3.4-mile street course.

The new venue, which winds around San Diego Bay and Naval Base Coronado, is the longest track on this year’s NASCAR schedule and features 16 turns around one of the world’s foremost military installations.

NASCAR Cup Series teams will use the same Goodyear Racing Eagle road-course tire that was run earlier this season at Circuit of The Americas and Watkins Glen International. The tire was also used at all six road- and street-course races last season.

RELATED: San Diego weekend schedule

NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series teams will also have a familiar setup. Their tire package was introduced last summer at Sonoma Raceway and has been used twice already this season.

Unlike Goodyear’s oval-track tire packages, the same tire specification will be used on both the left and right sides of the car. Wet-weather tires will also be available for all three series if needed.

“Visiting a new track brings a new set of challenges for the industry, but one constant for the teams will be their Goodyear Racing Eagle tires,” said Justin Fantozzi, Goodyear director of racing for the Americas. “The road-course specification we introduced for the Cup Series last season will be raced for the ninth time this weekend, and we have seen consistent performance at other road and street courses. That familiarity gives teams a reliable baseline as they prepare for a new venue.”

Tire allotments for each team competing this weekend:

Cup Series: 10* dry-weather sets — 6 new sets for the race, 1 for qualifying that transfers to the race and 3 for practice. Teams will also have 6 wet-weather sets available.
O’Reilly Auto Parts Series: 6 dry-weather sets — 3 new sets for the race, 1 for qualifying that transfers to the race and 2 for practice. Teams will also have 4 wet-weather sets available.
Craftsman Truck Series: 6 dry-weather sets — 3 new sets for the race, 1 for qualifying that transfers to the race and 2 for practice. Teams will also have 4 wet-weather sets available.

* = NASCAR announced Saturday that it was giving Cup Series teams an extra set of Goodyear tires for Sunday’s race after garage feedback following Friday’s practice session.