Corey Heim of 23XI Racing reached the finish line of the Anduril 250 with a 10.3‑second advantage over his teammate Bubba Wallace and delivered to Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan's team its first 1‑2 finish in the NASCAR Cup Series. The Naval Base Coronado street circuit, the first NASCAR event at an active military installation, began its history with a winner who has only 13 starts in the category.

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Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch's result at Coronado

The same race in which 23XI set the pace from start to finish eliminated the two drivers who had carried the rhythm throughout the weekend: pole‑winner Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch, who already knew what it was like to lead laps in the Cup Series. A crash on lap 33 took both of them out. Austin Hill locked his brakes in Turn 1 and pushed Zilisch against the outside wall; the Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 88 bounced back onto the track and hit Van Gisbergen, who a moment earlier had lifted his foot to get out of a three‑wide situation. The two Red Bull Chevrolets were both eliminated in the same impact. "The car was really fast, it's a shame," said Van Gisbergen. Zilisch, who had led eight laps, added: "When you have a chance to win and you get put in that situation, it's tough." Hill also retired.

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Heim had started 13th and in the first stage dropped to 20th place with two sets of tyres that gave him no pace. His crew chief, Bootie Barker, had promised him that the next compounds would work and kept him calm over the radio. "These were our two worst sets of tyres, we're going to be fine," he repeated. When the car received its third tyre change, he climbed into the top five and from there built his finish. Tyler Reddick led nine laps and controlled the final stretch until Heim pressured him with five to go. Reddick ran wide in Turn 2 on lap 73, and Heim put his car inside; Reddick tried to respond in Turn 5, hit the outside barrier and touched Heim, but then lifted because he considered there was no clean way to retake the position. He punctured his left‑front tyre and dropped to 25th place. Hamlin, team owner and driver of the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 11, finished 14th and cut eleven points from the championship leader: the leader's advantage went from 19 to 8 points.

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Bubba Wallace's comeback at Coronado after losing a wheel

Wallace staged the most notable comeback of the day. A wheel came off his Toyota and rolled between Turns 9 and 10, costing him a two‑lap penalty. From there he advanced 59 positions and secured second place. Riley Herbst, the fourth 23XI car, finished eighth. Ryan Blaney led 12 laps, the most of the day, and won the first stage. Ryan Preece took the second stage and finished 11th. Chris Buescher was sixth, Ross Chastain seventh with 47 positions gained, Riley Herbst eighth, and Michael McDowell tenth.

23XI's preparation for Corey Heim's races

Hamlin admitted before the race that 23XI had given Heim a list of goals for each race in his part‑time schedule, and winning was not on any of them. "I asked him before the race if he needed any advice and he said no. It was the first week he didn't call me," said Hamlin, who also noted the team's preparation: each Heim race takes weeks of concentrated work. Barker explained that not racing every Sunday allows them to fine‑tune details that other teams cannot address with the same depth. The result was no coincidence. For Heim, the victory had an extra flavour. Just a few months ago, he had not qualified for the Chicago street race, a blow that happened on his birthday and left him, in his own words, "feeling like he had let the team down." Barker never saw it that way. "I told him that was just a story, that it didn't mean anything," recalled the crew chief, who trusted Heim's ability to adapt to street circuits.

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Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Magnussen's result at Coronado

The grid featured two extra entries. Jimmie Johnson, a seven‑time Cup Series champion, drove the Legacy Motor Club Toyota 28 in his first race on a NASCAR street circuit and finished 28th, nearly two minutes behind the winner. Kevin Magnussen, in the Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 27, finished 27th with five fastest laps but without the pace to fight in the midfield.

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The future of the Coronado street circuit in NASCAR

Ben Kennedy, NASCAR's executive vice president, confirmed that 125,000 people attended over the weekend and that 67 percent of attendees had never been to a race. "We said from the start that this was more than a race, it was a mission. Mission accomplished," he said, before moving into the territory of continuity. The series wants to return to Coronado, but Kennedy was careful with his wording: "We are very aware that this is an active military base. We want to be respectful of that." The executive explained that NASCAR will conduct a thorough review of the event together with the Navy to determine if conditions exist for a second edition. He also mentioned that the experience of setting up a self‑contained circuit, with equipment, personnel, and logistics capable of deploying anywhere, opens the door to other military venues in markets where the series does not yet have a presence, such as the Pacific Northwest, Colorado, or the Northeast. "Confidence is high, but all we want to do is win. We want to improve," Kennedy concluded.

The next race will be on Sunday at Sonoma Raceway.

Anduril 250 2026

Pos	Nº	driver	team	brand	difference
1	#67	* Corey Heim(i)	23XI Racing	Toyota	-
2	#23	Bubba Wallace	23XI Racing	Toyota	+10.37s
3	#5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	+10.69s
4	#38	Zane Smith	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	+17.11s
5	#16	AJ Allmendinger	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	+17.62s
6	#17	Chris Buescher	RFK Racing	Ford	+17.88s
7	#1	Ross Chastain	Trackhouse Racing	Chevrolet	+18.43s
8	#35	Riley Herbst	23XI Racing	Toyota	+19.24s
9	#12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	+19.56s
10	#71	Michael McDowell	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	+24.14s
11	#60	Ryan Preece	RFK Racing	Ford	+26.08s
12	#9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	+27.36s
13	#7	Daniel Suarez	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	+29.15s
14	#11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	+29.92s
15	#54	Ty Gibbs	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	+32.24s
16	#42	John Hunter Nemechek	Legacy Motor Club	Toyota	+32.92s
17	#19	Chase Briscoe	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	+34.52s
18	#22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	+37.61s
19	#77	Carson Hocevar	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	+39.22s
20	#43	Erik Jones	Legacy Motor Club	Toyota	+43.62s
21	#34	Todd Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	+45.74s
22	#2	Austin Cindric	Team Penske	Ford	+46.41s
23	#51	Cody Ware	Rick Ware Racing	Chevrolet	+50.42s
24	#3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	+54.23s
25	#45	Tyler Reddick	23XI Racing	Toyota	+71.91s
26	#48	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	+76.33s
27	#91	* Kevin Magnussen	Trackhouse Racing	Chevrolet	+78.01s
28	#84	* Jimmie Johnson	Legacy Motor Club	Toyota	+99.93s
29	#21	Josh Berry	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	+114.30s
30	#10	Ty Dillon	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	+1 vuelta
31	#41	Cole Custer	Haas Factory Team	Chevrolet	+3 vueltas
32	#24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	+7 vueltas
33	#47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	HYAK Motorsports	Chevrolet	+16 vueltas
34	#6	Brad Keselowski	RFK Racing	Ford	+16 vueltas
35	#4	Noah Gragson	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	+38 vueltas
36	#33	Austin Hill(i)	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	+44 vueltas
37	#88	Connor Zilisch #	Trackhouse Racing	Chevrolet	+44 vueltas
38	#97	Shane Van Gisbergen	Trackhouse Racing	Chevrolet	+44 vueltas
39	#20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	+47 vueltas