Eyes on O’Reilly: No Shane van Gisbergen, Connor Zilisch Means a New O’Reilly King of the Road

For all the unknowns NASCAR teams and fans have going into this weekend’s tripleheader at Naval Base Coronado near San Diego, California, two things are for certain.

One, the track will move quickly into the number one spot on everyone’s lists of “NASCAR venues where your actions will land you on a government list.”

Two, while we might be getting another Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch duel on Sunday, we won’t see a prelude in the United Rentals Driven to Serve 250 on Saturday.

As a first-time track on the circuit, drivers are limited to running in one series for the weekend as not to give them an experience advantage in other races. With that, SVG, Zilisch and any other full-time Cup driver — except for Austin Hill, who’s not running the series for driver’s points — are absent from the O’Reilly entry list.

The last time a NASCAR O’Reilly Series road course race was won by someone other than SVG, Zilisch or a full-time Cup driver, you need to go back to before the last presidential election. Sam Mayer’s win at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL in October of 2024 was 10 road course races ago. Who will be next?

Brent Crews

If you want to go back to Toyota’s last O’Reilly Series win on a road course, you have to go back to 2023 with Ty Gibbs at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. However, they have the favorite going into this weekend in the 18-year-old Crews.

Crews has a pair of sixth-place finishes on road courses this season, including in his debut at Circuit of the Americas back in March. Since then, his stock has taken such a climb that he’s expected to be the backup to an injured Christopher Bell this week in the Cup Series. 

Cut from a similar cloth as Zilisch with plenty of road course experience to his name, plus a winning organization in Joe Gibbs Racing, Crews might be set up perfectly to capture his first win and firmly put himself in the chase despite missing four races this season.

Sam Mayer

Of course, Mayer has to be regarded as a favorite as well given his history on road courses. After all, five of his eight career wins have come on such tracks. But it’s not just that working to Mayer’s advantage going into the weekend.

With a plethora of early season issues keeping him from getting consistent runs, Mayer has finally put together back-to-back top fives for the first time this season at Nashville and Pocono. The last time he did that was near the end of the 2025 regular season. That stretch of four races included a win and a race at a road course. Maybe the schedule will play to Mayer’s benefit and he’ll finally snag a win in 2026.

Carson Kvapil

If there’s anyone who can take the mantle of road course king at JR Motorsports in the absence of Zilisch and SVG, it could be one of the drivers that gave them their toughest battles. Kvapil was neck-for-neck with Zilisch last year at COTA before an issue relegated him out of contention. The rest of his rookie season saw him collect three top 10s on road courses.

Kvapil’s numbers on the twisting and turning tracks don’t stand out — 19th at COTA and 14th at Watkins Glen — until you remember they came with DGM Racing and not in his usual No. 1 Chevy. He’s not going to have to give up the seat this week and might take the know-how from veteran crew chief Rodney Childers all the way to victory lane this weekend.

Jesse Love

It’s already been a big week for Love with the announcement that he’s set to go Cup racing in 2027 with Wood Brothers Racing. Why not add to it by winning one of these next two races in his home state of California?

Love was near tears at the end of the series’ last road course race at Watkins Glen International. That’s because he was nearly a winner, losing it on the final corner to a charging Zilisch on a different pit strategy. Love also finished fourth at COTA, clearly figuring out the ways of the road after a roller coaster ride of results on them in 2025. 

Just as Love appears to be putting himself together to be a Cup driver, maybe he’s on the cusp of putting together a complete road course race.

Austin Hill

Why not stick with Richard Childress Racing? After all, when it comes to average running position on road courses in 2025, the only person who could challenge Zilisch and a slew of full-time Cup drivers was Hill at 7.7 over seven races.

Hill’s been sneaky good at road courses throughout his career, especially in the series’ last two forays into street course racing with a seventh and fourth over two runs on the Chicago street course. While his time running double duty in the wake of Kyle Busch’s passing hasn’t been super fruitful on the Cup side, this weekend could see the opportunity bear fruit with how much track time will be at a premium.

Others to Watch

Austin Green got temporarily bounced from his ride last week at Pocono for Nick Sanchez, but he’s back in the No. 87 Chevy for San Diego and with good reason. Green, son of former series champion David, has recorded nine of his 10 career top 10s on road courses.

Anthony Alfredo is maybe one of the best in racing when it comes to sim work, a vital part of this week’s prep. On the track, he’s on a streak of four straight top 15s and tends to outkick his coverage on the road courses.

Josh Bilicki is a road course ringer who’s finally been able to nail down a full-time ride with SS Green Light Racing. Maybe having a built-up rapport with a team over a season will net him his first top-10 of the season.

Former O’Reilly regular and NASCAR Canada champion Alex Labbe is back with the aforementioned SS-Green Light with a pair of top 20s so far this year, including a 13th-place run at Circuit of the Americas.

While he hasn’t done a ton in three entries into the O’Reilly Series, maybe Baltazar Leguizamón from Argentina will have more to show in a Young’s Motorsports entry.