Who… should you be talking about after the checkered flag?
In the shadow of a massive aircraft carrier, the NASCAR Cup Series hit the street of Naval Base Coronado in San Diego on Sunday (June 21). To the surprise of nobody, Shane van Gisbergen led the field to the green flag, but a lap 32 pileup on a restart changed everything.
On a day where pit strategy was key and tire management meant the difference between contending and just running, 23XI Racing emerged as the team to beat as the day wore on.
On a tight course full of blind corners and tight quarters, Tyler Reddick, who exercised patience early while his team played the strategy game, worked his way to the lead after a slow start. Teammate Bubba Wallace also showed speed, and as his confidence on the tricky surface grew, Wallace worked his way steadily forward as well, overcoming a two-lap penalty to race for the win. Riley Herbst also showed up with a strong run.
But it was Corey Heim who stole the show. In just his 13th Cup start, Heim looked like a veteran in the final laps as he ran second to Reddick, with Wallace behind him and Herbst also in the top five. Heim stayed close to Reddick, and while he hadn’t quite been able to make a move for the lead, he let the race come to him, hoping for a mistake from Reddick.
And Reddick made one, getting just a little wide in one corner. Heim made the move to pass him. Reddick tried a crossover and got wide again, pushing Heim wide as well. Reddick backed off, giving Heim the lead back, and from there Heim never looked back. He won the Anduril 250 Race the Base by more than 10 seconds over Wallace, Kyle Larson, Zane Smith and AJ Allmendinger.
It’s the first Cup win of Heim’s career. The defending NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion will race full-time in the Cup Series for 23XI in 2027, replacing Herbst in the No. 35.
On the other hand…
Entering the weekend, it’s unlikely that Trackhouse Racing was counting on Ross Chastain to carry their day, but he did, finishing seventh. Meanwhile, road course favorites van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch were nowhere to be seen at the end.
As the pair battled for the lead on lap 32 with Austin Hill, Hill overdrove turn 1, getting into Zilisch as van Gisbergen got into both from behind as he slowed. All three cars suffered terminal damage. Another half-dozen cars were also involved.
Prior to the incident, both van Gisbergen and Zilisch led multiple laps and looked to have the speed to contend if they played the right strategy game. Zilisch in particular was having the type of day he sorely needed, earning a couple of stage points in the opener and leading one more lap than van Gisbergen. Both will look to rebound next weekend as the series hits the road course again.
What… is the big question everyone should be asking after the race?
NASCAR hasn’t announced any intent to return to Coronado, but there was praise for the course and the military juxtaposition. A return would likely mean a better show overall as the course would not be so new to the drivers … but should the race be on the 2027 schedule?
This one might depend more on the logistics of building a race course on an active military installation than on the quality of the racing. That aspect seems more like a one-and-done special event than a regular occurrence. However, with the closing of Auto Club Speedway, Southern California is a ripe market for NASCAR, so that makes exploring another go-round an interesting prospect.
Fans who tuned into the Truck race saw a glimpse of something that was once a weekly occurrence in the Cup Series: Jimmie Johnson sniffing the lead and latching onto it like a predator. Johnson qualified fourth and raced his way to the lead in the opening stage. He had speed, and the trucks, which more closely resemble the Cup cars that Johnson had so much success in than the Next Gen does, suited his driving style. Electrical issues ended his night early.
Johnson has stated that the 2027 Daytona 500 will be his last Cup race, but might fans see him dip his toe in Trucks? Doubtful, but he looked good out there. He has struggled with the current Cup car and even the sixth generation before it that he finished his full-time career in, but he looked right at home in the truck despite only having one previous start. If he was as comfortable as he looked, he might be persuaded to climb in the window again. Kevin Harvick suggested that he should, and Johnson’s fans would probably agree.
Where… did he come from?
Give Van Gisbergen’s superhuman road course streak over the last two years, another road warrior has taken a back seat.
On Sunday, Allmendinger reminded fans that he’s still here.
Allmendinger started 15th, finished in the top five in both stages (fifth and fourth) and finished out the day in fifth as well.
Allmendinger is 20th in points but just 21 points behind Ryan Preece in 16th. He hasn’t had the success at Sonoma Raceway that he has enjoyed at other road courses, but he’s been steady on ovals this year. Kaulig Racing has struggled this year in both the Cup and Truck Series, but the team restated its commitment to Allmendinger this weekend.
While Allmendinger isn’t in the mix for wins every week, he is a veteran presence with a good sense of what the cars need and he finishes races. He’s a consistent presence for the team and works hard to be competitive.
When… are we going to talk about the points?
There weren’t too many shuffles at the front for the field this week. Denny Hamlin continues to eat into Reddick’s point lead after Reddick blew a tire coming to the white flag, and he’s now just eight points back. Reddick might have a slight edge at Sonoma Raceway next week, but it’s going to be a close battle this summer. Ryan Blaney, Larson and Ty Gibbs round out the top five this week with Larson displacing teammate Chase Elliott for fourth, while Elliott slipped to sixth with his 12th-place finish to Larson’s third.
There were a couple of changes in the back half of the top 10. Chris Buescher, Daniel Suarez and Carson Hocevar all held steady in seventh through ninth, but Chase Briscoe ousts Christopher Bell from 10th. Bell suffered a fractured wrist at Michigan International Speedway a couple of weeks ago, and relief driver Brent Crews suffered a mechanical failure before halfway that saw the No. 20 wind up 39th.
The final Chase spot also changed hands this week. Van Gisbergen’s 38th-place finish saw him fall out of the top 16 for the first time this year, while Preece made his way back into 16th with a solid 11th-place effort. Erik Jones gained another spot despite a mediocre day in San Diego. He’s now 14th but just five points ahead of the cut line. Joey Logano remained in 18th, but he’s just 10 points out of contention, cutting his deficit by more than half over last week.
Why… should you be paying attention this week?
It’s back-to-back West Coast road courses as the Cup Series heads north to Sonoma Raceway for the last round of right-hand turns in 2026.
Van Gisbergen and Zilisch will be looking for a little redemption on the 1.99-mile, 12-turn course. Sonoma is a tough track to pass on, though there are certainly areas where it can be done. Qualifying will be a big part of success; the last time a winner started outside the top 10 was 2017 when Harvick came from 12th to win.
Van Gisbergen is the defending race winner. Larson needs a jump start to his 2026 season and Sonoma is a good opportunity for him — he holds the current track qualifying record and has two wins in the last five races. Another Sonoma winner needing a pick-me-up after San Diego is Suarez, the 2022 winner. Van Gisbergen, Larson and Suarez are the only active Cup drivers with wins in wine country. Larson leads active drivers with his two victories.
Despite not having race wins, a few others to keep an eye on include Elliott, Buescher and Logano. All three are in the top five in average finish at Sonoma. Bell is also solid, with three top 10s in five starts, but his injured hand is still a question mark — Crews finished San Diego for him, so how much difference a week makes for his fractured wrist remains to be seen.
How… did this race stack up?
The Cup race highlighted the elevated skill of drivers who get to that level. The race still featured some chaos but not nearly as much as the Craftsman Truck or O’Reilly Series. Even so, there was a red flag for course repair. But by the last run, most of the teams had it figured out.
The race highlighted the importance of strategy — tire strategy was key and teams that managed them the best prevailed. Pit strategy was difficult. With the length of the course, flipping stages wasn’t necessarily a good call. Waiting too long to pit cost too much in lap times as fresh tires made a few seconds’ difference. That meant opportunities for multiple drivers to make moves and also some being in the wrong place at the wrong time. With little mechanical attrition anymore, tire wear has become more critical to the quality of races, and Goodyear delivered on Sunday.
The race will be memorable for its unique setting and a first-time winner. Fans generally get behind a driver’s first Cup win, and Heim’s debut in victory lane had enough stories behind it that it’ll be talked about for a while.
Amy is an 20-year veteran NASCAR writer and a six-time National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) writing award winner, including first place awards for both columns and race coverage. As well as serving as Photo Editor, Amy writes The Big 6 (Mondays) after every NASCAR Cup Series race. She can also be found working on her bi-weekly columns Holding A Pretty Wheel (Tuesdays) and Only Yesterday (Wednesdays). A New Hampshire native whose heart is in North Carolina, Amy’s work credits have extended everywhere from driver Kenny Wallace’s website to Athlon Sports. She can also be heard weekly as a panelist on the Hard Left Turn podcast that can be found on AccessWDUN.com's Around the Track page.
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