{"id":16720,"date":"2026-06-21T07:01:47","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T07:01:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=16720"},"modified":"2026-06-21T07:01:47","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T07:01:47","slug":"svg-the-driver-to-beat-as-san-diego-hosts-first-ever-nascar-cup-race-on-sunday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=16720","title":{"rendered":"\u2018SVG\u2019 the driver to beat as San Diego hosts first-ever NASCAR Cup race on Sunday"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Ryan Blaney has a plan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cManage the tires and don\u2019t hit any concrete,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Oh, and \u201cfigure out the best ways to attack\u201d Shane van Gisbergen.<\/p>\n<p>Because the man who everyone figured would be the driver to beat in NASCAR\u2019s inaugural Anduril 250 at Naval Base Coronado is, indeed, the driver to beat.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=16718\">Austin Hill scores first O\u2019Reilly Series win at Naval Base Coronado<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Van Gisbergen won the pole for Sunday\u2019s 75-lap Anduril 250 \u2014 the NASCAR Cup Series finale to San Diego Weekend at Naval Base Coronado.<\/p>\n<p>It marked the sixth time that van Gisbergen won the pole for a NASCAR Cup race on a road or street course. He has won four of his first five starts from the pole.<\/p>\n<p>Saturday, the driver they call \u201cSVG\u201d toured the 3.4-mile, 16-turn road course with a fast lap of 2 minutes, 14.788 seconds at an average speed of 90.809 mph. That is 1.66 mph faster than van Gisbergen toured the circuit during Friday\u2019s practice session.<\/p>\n<p>But it still didn\u2019t come off 100% smooth. During his final qualifying lap, the masterful road racer exited the course into a run-off area.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cThis is going to be a very difficult race,\u201d said van Gisbergen. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing to win the first pole here just because it is so difficult. My longer runs Friday in practice weren\u2019t that good. The car was better today. But we still don\u2019t have a complete book for the race.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere has been less grip than expected. The speeds haven\u2019t been as fast as expected. It\u2019s still going to be a gamble with the tires. Who knows?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Said Blaney:\u00a0\u201cWe\u2019re hoping we\u2019re going to hit the setup right. Honestly, I think it\u2019s going to be a heck of a race.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat you are hearing is that everyone thinks they could have done better in practice and qualifying,\u201d said Carson Hocevar, who qualified second at 90.704 mph to give Chevrolet Camaros both front row spots.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Van Gisbergen was among the first group of drivers turning a qualifying lap Saturday. After he posted his pole-winning time, six other drivers \u2014 Blaney, Hocevar, Mike McDowell, Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain and Todd Gilliland \u2014 were turning laps that were quicker than van Gisbergen \u2026 before falling off near the end.<\/p>\n<p>Blaney\u2019s Ford Mustang was the No. 3 qualifier at 90.634 mph, followed by Zane Smith (Ford, 90.405), Gilliland (Ford, 90.402), Daniel Suarez (Chevrolet, 90.377), Ryan Preece (Ford, 90.343), van Gisbergen\u2019s 19-year-old Trackhouse Racing teammate Connor Zilisch (90.077) and McDowell (Chevrolet, 90.048).<\/p>\n<p>Some other key contenders didn\u2019t fare as well in qualifying on a track where there could be few passing opportunities.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=16716\">Wyndham Clark builds 6-shot U.S. Open lead at Shinnecock Hills<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Points leader Tyler Reddick qualified 17th (89.562) and spun out at the end of his run. Denny Hamlin, who comes to Coronado riding a three-race winning streak that has carried him into second in the standings, qualified 26th (88.777).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not where I want to be,\u201d said Hamlin. \u201cBut road courses can be tough. If you stay out of trouble on a course like this, you never know. The race could come to you. There is going to be attrition.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Van Gisbergen hopes the race starts on a cautious note as drivers sort out their cars and the track.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s still a lot that we don\u2019t know about this race,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m hoping it will start slowly and everyone will ramp up the aggressiveness. The problem is not just one corner on its own. It\u2019s the combination of one turn leading into the next and there a lot of them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Coronado has a NASCAR-course-record 16 turns, not counting the left-right combination added late to slow the field heading into Turn 12.<\/p>\n<p>But van Gisbergen will also be leading the field to the start alongside one of the most aggressive drivers in NASCAR \u2014 Hocevar, who is coming off his best qualifying run ever on a road course.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHopefully, there won\u2019t be a problem,\u201d said van Gisbergen. \u201cWe need a clean first lap.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRight now, most of us still feel challenged by the track,\u201d said Austin Cindric. \u201cNo one has done a perfect lap. I haven\u2019t learned enough yet. But we\u2019re all figuring it out. I\u2019m certainly stronger than I was yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But many drivers are viewing this as an event that is bigger than the race itself.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI loved this race to come back,\u201d said Ricky Stenhouse. \u201cI told NASCAR officials that before I ever got on the racetrack. Just the excitement and atmosphere here on the base. And San Diego offers so many great things to do for our fans and families.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Concluded Cindric: \u201cWe\u2019ve never had an event of this significance. It\u2019s 250 for a reason. We\u2019re racing past an aircraft carrier. Our fan zones have military helicopters parked in the middle. Where else has this ever happened?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=16709\">Dodgers\u2019 9th-inning rally falls just short in loss to Orioles<\/a><\/p>\n<h4>Anduril 250<\/h4>\n<p><strong>What:<\/strong> NASCAR Cup Series race<\/p>\n<p><strong>When:<\/strong> 1 p.m. Sunday<\/p>\n<p><strong>Where:<\/strong> Naval Base Coronado<\/p>\n<p><strong>Distance:<\/strong> 255 miles (75 laps; stages 20, 20, 35 laps)<\/p>\n<p><strong>TV:<\/strong> Prime Video<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Shane van Gisbergen wins the pole for Saturday&#8217;s street race at Naval Base Coronado.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16719,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-based-on-facts-either-observed-and-verified-directly-by-the-reporter-or-reported-and-verified-from-knowledgeable-sources","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - 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