Any listing of NASCAR’s prime prospects has positioned at or close to the highest for the final two seasons.
Heim stays a prime prospect, however he is now a winner after conquering the road course at Naval Base Coronado.
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The 23-year-old ran down factors chief Tyler Reddick and handed him for the lead with two laps to go and earned his first profession NASCAR Cup Collection victory within the on June 21 on the naval base close to San Diego.
Reddick sunk to twenty fifth after a tire failure shortly after he relinquished the lead, as Denny Hamlin
Listed below are the winners and losers from the NASCAR San Diego race:
POINTS AFTER SAN DIEGO:
NASCAR San Diego winners and losers as strain is on SVG to make ChaseWinner: Corey Heim and anybody who believed he must be a Cup full-time driver — this season
One of many main query marks concerning the 2026 season was the standing of 2025 Truck Collection champion Corey Heim.
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He entered the season as a part-time driver for 23XI Racing in a fourth entry for a restricted schedule whereas doing the identical factor within the Truck Collection with TRICON Storage. On condition that Heim dominated the Truck Collection season final 12 months in a manner few others have, plus a top-10 and two top-15 finishes in 4 Cup races with 23XI, the 23-year-old deserved a critical have a look at a full-time Toyota experience within the Cup Collection.
Heim is the type of younger and proficient driver that groups ought to plan their futures round as an alternative of the opposite manner.
That needed to be on the minds of many contained in the Cup Collection storage as they watched Heim chase the Cup Collection factors chief down within the last 10 laps, then go him in a decent side-by-side battle to earn his first profession Cup win.
Heim has gained three of his 5 Truck begins this 12 months, however that stat shocks nobody. Neither ought to Heim’s capacity in a Cup Collection automobile.
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Heim has led laps in three of six Cup begins this season and has recorded three top-20 finishes to this point. He has six extra Cup races left on his previously-announced 2026 schedule.
The excellent news for Heim is that he’s already set to fill 23XI Racing’s third full-time driver seat in 2027 subsequent to Reddick and Bubba Wallace. That it comes a 12 months later than it ought to have is one thing that can not be modified, however everyone seems to be effectively conscious that Heim’s time is now.
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NASCAR San Diego race from Naval base Coronado that includes Shane van Gisbergen
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 21: Austin Dillon, driver of the #3 Boot Barn Chevrolet, indicators an autograph for a U.S. Navy service member through the drivers assembly previous to the NASCAR Cup Collection Anduril 250 at Naval Base Coronado on June 21, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photograph by Sean Gardner/Getty Photos)
(Sean Gardner, Getty Photos)
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NASCAR San Diego race from Naval base Coronado that includes Shane van Gisbergen
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 21: Austin Dillon, driver of the #3 Boot Barn Chevrolet, indicators an autograph for a U.S. Navy service member through the drivers assembly previous to the NASCAR Cup Collection Anduril 250 at Naval Base Coronado on June 21, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photograph by Sean Gardner/Getty Photos)
(Sean Gardner, Getty Photos)
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NASCAR San Diego race from Naval base Coronado that includes Shane van Gisbergen
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 21: A common view of the ambiance previous to the NASCAR Cup Collection Anduril 250 at Naval Base Coronado on June 21, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photograph by Chris Graythen/Getty Photos)
(Chris Graythen, Getty Photos)
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NASCAR San Diego race from Naval base Coronado that includes Shane van Gisbergen
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 21: NASCAR Chief Govt Officer Steve O’Donnell speaks on the drivers assembly previous to the NASCAR Cup Collection Anduril 250 at Naval Base Coronado on June 21, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photograph by Sean Gardner/Getty Photos)
(Sean Gardner, Getty Photos)
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NASCAR San Diego race from Naval base Coronado that includes Shane van Gisbergen
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 21: A common view of the ambiance previous to the NASCAR Cup Collection Anduril 250 at Naval Base Coronado on June 21, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photograph by Chris Graythen/Getty Photos)
(Chris Graythen, Getty Photos)
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NASCAR San Diego race from Naval base Coronado that includes Shane van Gisbergen
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 21: NASCAR followers arrive for the NASCAR Cup Collection Anduril 250 at Naval Base Coronado on June 21, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photograph by James Gilbert/Getty Photos)
(James Gilbert, Getty Photos)
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NASCAR San Diego race from Naval base Coronado that includes Shane van Gisbergen
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 21: A common view of the ambiance previous to the NASCAR Cup Collection Anduril 250 at Naval Base Coronado on June 21, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photograph by Chris Graythen/Getty Photos)
(Chris Graythen, Getty Photos)
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NASCAR San Diego race from Naval base Coronado that includes Shane van Gisbergen
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 21: A NASCAR fan arrives for the NASCAR Cup Collection Anduril 250 at Naval Base Coronado on June 21, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photograph by James Gilbert/Getty Photos)
(James Gilbert, Getty Photos)
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NASCAR San Diego race from Naval base Coronado that includes Shane van Gisbergen
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 21: A NASCAR fan poses for images in a reproduction of the #19 Bass Professional Retailers Toyota within the fanzone on the halfway previous to the NASCAR Cup Collection Anduril 250 at Naval Base Coronado on June 21, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photograph by James Gilbert/Getty Photos)
(James Gilbert, Getty Photos)
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NASCAR San Diego race from Naval base Coronado that includes Shane van Gisbergen
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 21: A common view of the ambiance previous to the NASCAR Cup Collection Anduril 250 at Naval Base Coronado on June 21, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photograph by Chris Graythen/Getty Photos)
(Chris Graythen, Getty Photos)
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NASCAR San Diego race from Naval base Coronado that includes Shane van Gisbergen
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 21: A common view of the San Diego skyline harbor previous to the NASCAR Cup Collection Anduril 250 at Naval Base Coronado on June 21, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photograph by Chris Graythen/Getty Photos)
(Chris Graythen, Getty Photos)
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NASCAR San Diego race from Naval base Coronado that includes Shane van Gisbergen
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 21: NASCAR Chief Govt Officer Steve O’Donnell speaks on the drivers assembly previous to the NASCAR Cup Collection Anduril 250 at Naval Base Coronado on June 21, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photograph by Sean Gardner/Getty Photos)
(Sean Gardner, Getty Photos)
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NASCAR San Diego race from Naval base Coronado that includes Shane van Gisbergen
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 21: A common view of the ambiance previous to the NASCAR Cup Collection Anduril 250 at Naval Base Coronado on June 21, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photograph by Chris Graythen/Getty Photos)
(Chris Graythen, Getty Photos)Winner: Bubba Wallace
Bubba Wallace was quick early and later within the NASCAR San Diego race, nevertheless it’s what occurred on Lap 18 that made for an extended day of labor for the driving force of the No. 23.
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Wallace’s right-front tire was not safe after a pit cease, and the right-front wheel rolled away from the Toyota mid-lap to pressure a warning.
Wallace was given a two-lap penalty through the stage break, and the staff needed to restore injury to the splitter after the automobile rolled on three tires to pit street.
The No. 23 earned a pair free passes after cautions to work again onto the lead lap, and Wallace steadily drove again up into the highest 15 earlier than getting some technique luck from the ultimate warning of the day.
He then drove into second for a time earlier than Corey Heim and Tyler Reddick pulled away, and slotted into the runner-up spot when Reddick had a tire difficulty on the next-to-last lap.
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Wallace gained factors on the Chase cutline after a powerful end result at a street course, nevertheless it did not need to be such a treacherous path to get there.
Loser: Shane van Gisbergen’s Chase probabilities
Shane van Gisbergen wanted two weeks within the last road-course races of the season to create a big sufficient buffer to make the Chase.
Popping out of San Diego, the query is whether or not or not SVG could have a buffer in any respect.
SVG opted to pit late in Stage 1 in lieu of grabbing stage factors, asking his staff a number of occasions if they may keep out to seize the assured factors.
And because of this: SVG was concerned in a crash about 15 laps in a while a restart up entrance. Austin Hill and Connor Zilisch led the sector to the inexperienced, and SVG teased a three-wide battle into Flip 1 earlier than backing off. However Hill missed the nook, driving himself and Zilisch into the skin wall.
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SVG had nowhere to go however by means of the 2 crashing vehicles in entrance of it, receiving terminal injury to the entrance finish. SVG completed thirty eighth, incomes one level for a weekend’s value of labor after claiming the pole a day prior.
Given his excessive expectations at a street course, the end result was a matter of 40-or-more factors misplaced. The strain is on for him subsequent weekend at Sonoma, the ultimate street course race of the season. SVG is hovering on the Chase bubble, dropping to seventeenth popping out of San Diego.
Loser: Brad Keselowski’s spring and summer season stretch
Brad Keselowski’s Chase likelihood is slipping additional away by means of the entrance windshield after a fourth consecutive end outdoors of the highest 30.
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Keselowski battled points all through the day, together with a number of steering points. The No. 6 bounced off the wall within the second stage, impacting the toe. Later, Keselowski was walled by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. as the 2 reacted to a Chase Elliott spin. That affect with the wall required a prolonged restore within the storage, and Keselowski misplaced a number of laps.
By the top, Keselowski earned a Thirty fourth-place end, 16 laps down.
