2026 Anduril 250 Race the Base Betting Race Picks

Date/Time: Sunday June 21st, 2026. 4:00PM (EST)
Where: San Diego Naval Base Coronado
TV: Prime

For the first time in history, NASCAR’s Cup Series will race on an active military base with the running of the “Anduril 250 Race the Base” at the San Diego Naval Base Coronado. The Coronado Street Course, also known as the Qualcomm Circuit, is a massive 3.4 mile layout that races along the tarmacs, runways, and perimeter of the San Diego Naval Base Coronado. This temporary layout was constructed to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States and show appreciation to the servicemen around the country. On Sunday, NASCAR drivers and teams will fight for a chance to become the winner of this prestigious race which will be decided by 75 laps of racing in Southern California!

From a betting perspective, the road course races have become somewhat less dramatic since Shane Van Gisbergen (SVG) entered the scene. SVG has been nothing short of dominant on these layouts winning 6 of the last 7 road course style events. SVG won his first start in the Cup Series at the Chicago Street Course which has a lot of similarities to this San Diego layout. SVG’s driving style is simply unmatched at this style of racing and he seems to get better as the tires fade. Therefore, we don’t have to go out on any limbs to concede the fact that SVG will remain the driver to beat going into this weekend’s main event. In all likelihood, SVG will need to have trouble or lose on a strategy call because the likelihood of drivers beating the New Zealander straight-up are minimal.

With that being said, rest assured there will be a ton of strategy that comes into play on Sunday. The Cup Series has become notorious for having races based around fuel strategy with the Next Gen Car. The Coronado Street Course is a 3.4 mile layout that takes over two-minutes to complete a single lap. Through the Truck Series and O’Reilly Series races this weekend, we have already seen that strategy is extremely important towards winning the battle for track position at this massive layout. Those strategy plays will be magnified on Sunday with Cup Series’ teams and there is a solid likelihood that strategy may impact who wins this inaugural event. For those reasons, we do not want to completely ignore potential dark horses or surprise winners this week. Everyone knows that SVG should be dominant but there will be opportunities for drivers/teams to win the track position game based on how the cautions fall. Therefore, we must explore the drivers that are extremely undervalued and also even consider the teams that are notorious for taking gambles when compiling our betting cards!

Handicapping San Diego Coronado

Any time the Cup Series visits a completely new layout, it is usually very difficult for handicappers and bettors to have strong conviction or confidence in their race picks because there are so many unknowns related to a new circuit. In some ways, I agree with that narrative this week at San Diego because there will undoubtedly be drivers that adapt sooner to this layout compared to drivers that typically rely on experience to produce the best results at the road courses. Without any experience this week, I believe that plays into the hands of the drivers with the most natural road course skills.

In other previews this week, I have explained the layout of this Coronado Street Course which is a 16-turn 3.4 mile layout that has numerous 90 degree turns, chicanes, and even some “S’ shaped turns. It is like a combination of every road course on the Cup Series schedule. As a result, I believe bettors and handicappers need to pay close attention to road course performance metrics to identify the drivers that have the highest likelihood of competing well on Sunday! One data metric that will help everyone is observing our loop data which highlights performance results over the last 5 road course races. The road course dynamic is a really good baseline to establish some fundamental expectations going into Sunday!

Practice and Qualifying Observations

On Friday, Cup Series teams and drivers had a full practice session to prepare for the Anduril 250 Race the Base. Kyle Larson topped the charts in practice with an average speed of 89.613mph. Larson was among a handful of drivers that elected to change tires and put together a mock qualifying effort at the end of practice. Todd Gilliland, Ty Gibbs, Connor Zilisch, and Carson Hocevar were the names that rounded out the top 5 positions in practice in what appeared to be mock qualifying efforts. SVG was the first driver on the speed charts that did not appear to make a mock qualifying effort. SVG appeared to have everything he needed because he backed up his practice effort by winning the pole on Saturday with a fast lap of 90.809. SVG actually touched the wall on two separate occasions on his pole winning lap and still bested the field by more than half a second.

If we observe individual laps very carefully and ignore the outliers, SVG was so much faster than everyone, even in practice. SVG was consistently the fastest car on the track by a wide margin. Additional names that were also really strong included the likes of Michael McDowell, Ty Gibbs, and Tyler Reddick. Additionally, I was really impressed by the likes of Austin Hill and Todd Gilliland. Both drivers entered the weekend as huge underdogs but are also underrated road course talents. In practice, both drivers posted very competitive lap times throughout the session and appear to have much higher ceilings than anyone previously expected. On the other side of the speed charts, Christopher Bell, Ross Chastain, Brad Keselowski, and Erik Jones were among the names that struggled in practice by a large margin. Bell is trying to compete with a fractured risk from the accident at Michigan and a road course is much more difficult than a traditional oval for that injury. In fact, Brent Crews completed a handful of laps in the #20 in-case Bell has to be relieved from his starting duties.

Betting Targets

I think anyone could have guessed that SVG would be the betting favorite by a significant margin going into Sunday’s Anduril 250 Race the Base. However, SVG is currently being listed as an outrageous betting favorite in the -400 range at some sportsbooks which is by far the widest margin I have ever seen in NASCAR. While those odds completely erase any potential action on the New Zealander, I’m not sure that I disagree with sportsbooks either. SVG was nearly a full second better than 95% of the field in Friday’s practice and he backed up that effort by winning the pole by more than ½ second. Needless to say, SVG could potentially cruise to a victory on Sunday as long as he stays out of trouble and avoids a disaster in the strategy game. I had SVG in some parlays prior to Friday’s practice at -150 but I can’t see any rationale towards taking him at his current value.

The good news is that if we want to take the risk of fading SVG, there is some solid value throughout the remainder of the field. I believe Michael McDowell may have the sharpest value on the board. I have McDowell in the top 3-5 drivers in nearly every handicapping angle for road courses in the Next Gen Car and he also finished 2nd to SVG at the last road course race at Watkins Glen. If SVG finds trouble on Sunday, McDowell at nearly 20-1 has to be the best value on the board. Tyler Reddick, Connor Zilisch, and Ty Gibbs are also plug and play pivots if you are looking for drivers that have a high likelihood of running in the front of the field and possibly stealing a victory on strategy. Still, I don’t have much confidence that any of those drivers will pull out the victory barring strategy scenarios. I may sound like a square but it’s hard to envision many paths to SVG losing this race based on how well the #97 team has consistently executed these road course races over the last two years.

Outside of futures markets for the outright win, I believe Michael McDowell, Austin Hill, and Chase Briscoe are some of the best candidates for H2H match-ups. I mentioned the speed that Hill has shown in practice and I would reiterate the fact that he is a very underrated road course talent. The same can be said for Chase Briscoe who has had a slow start to the weekend and getting very generous odds. I have both drivers listed significantly better than current betting odds suggest. At nearly 70-1 odds, both drivers can be considered in H2H and prop bet formats. Briscoe may be a solid option in fantasy formats due to his poor starting position. In terms of fantasy racing, I also believe that William Byron and Austin Cindric are some additional sharp options. Cindric has a high fantasy ceiling that is aided by his poor starting position. Byron may be a high price tag in fantasy formats but he is another driver that should overcome a poor starting spot and move forward!

2026 Draftkings Anduril 250 Race the Base Optimal Lineup

2026 Anduril 250 Race the Base Race Picks

*FINAL*

Connor Zilisch +1000 (.5 unit)
Michael McDowell +2000 (.5 unit)
Kyle Larson +2500 (.5 unit)

H2H Match-Ups and Props

AJ Allmendinger -105 over Chris Buescher (2 units)
Austin Hill +175 finishes Top 10 (2 units)
Corey Heim +200 finishes Top 10 (2 units)
Michael McDowell +1400 finishes Top Chevrolet (.5 unit)
Alex Bowman +350 finishes Top 10 (1 unit)