NASCAR San Diego: Crushed Cars and Career Bests

CORONADO, CALI. — The NASCAR Cup Series event at Naval Base Coronado, near San Diego, had it all from crushed cars to career bests.

The fledgling street circuit claimed a few cars over the course of the weekend that contributed to some of the success for others. Here’s what transpired.

The Crushed Cars

The Cup Series drivers kept their cool during the practice and qualifying sessions. But, the race was red hot for carnage.

On the lap 33 restart, the front of the field said hello to the outside turn one wall.

Shane van Gisbergen tried taking the front row three-wide before backing out ,but the moved seemed to distract Austin Hill.

Hill restarted in second on the outside of Connor Zilisch. He locked his brakes running side-by-side with the rookie and ran him into the outside wall.

Zilisch smashed into the concrete barriers and straight back into oncoming traffic. He collected a multitude of contenders when he bounced back out including his Trackhouse Racing teammate of van Gisbergen.

“It’s just unfortunate to end the day like that for both Red Bull Chevrolets with Shane and I,” said Zilisch.

“We had a really fast car today. We got out front and it felt really good, but that’s how it goes sometimes.”

“When you have a chance to go win a race and you’re in a prime spot to do so, but get put in a position like that, it’s extremely tough.” the rookie said after his good day ends in a wreck yet again.

The Anduril 250’s polesitter and race favorite was as disappointed.

“A real shame,” said van Gisbergen, who DNF’d in 38th place. “The Red Bull Chevy was unreal fast once the track kind of rubbered up. Yeah, a real shame.”

Austin Hill retired from the event as well. Ty Gibbs also sustained heavy damage. Between the crushed cans of Red Bull and Monster, he was able to continue and finished 15th, the others did not.

Noah Gragson was the final car who failed to see the checkered flag on Sunday. The driver of the No.4 had a disagreement on track with Project 91’s Kevin Magnussen which resulted in the Dane dispatching Gragson for his DNF.

At the conclusion of the race, seven cautions and one red flag were displayed which took up 11 of the 75 laps.

The Career Bests

Of course, this section cannot be started without mentioning the Anduril 250 winner, Corey Heim. 23XI Racing’s newly announced full-time driver for 2027 achieved his first career Cup Series win after only 13 starts.

With his career best finish, he became the third different driver to win their first career Cup Series race this season. Heim joined Ty Gibbs and Carson Hocevar in the category.

A few other drivers earned their career best finishes too.

Riley Herbst ran his most complete Cup Series race on the street course. He ran inside the top ten after avoiding the lap 33 carnage. He tied his career best finish of eighth.

Former F1 driver Kevin Magnussen naturally set career bests across the board. The Dane would finish 27th and even got the full “NASCAR experience” with his post-race exchange with Noah Gragson.

• Magnussen finishes 27th in Cup debut at Coronado but gets fastest lap

Connor Zilisch led his first career Cup Series laps. He was able to run out front for eight laps and looked to challenge for more before he was caught up in the lap 33 wreck.

Brent Crews turned his first Cup Series laps of his career. The teenager came into the race in relief of Christopher Bell in the middle of the first stage.

The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series rookie only made it around the circuit for a few laps before earning another career first. His engine slipped out of gear on lap 28 for his first incident in the series.

Finally, while not career bests, a number of drivers earned their best finish of their season at Naval Base Coronado. Bubba Wallace came home in second and Zane Smith in fourth.

MORE:

• Corey Heim earns first career Cup Series win at Naval Base Coronado