The NASCAR Cup Series makes history this Sunday with the inaugural Anduril 250 at Naval Base Coronado in San Diego. Marking the first time the sport will contest a points-paying race on an active military base, the temporary 3.4-mile street circuit promises to be one of the most unique and challenging events on the 2026 schedule.<\/p>\n
Spire Motorsports brings its trio of Chevrolet Camaro ZL1s to the demanding layout, leaning on the organization\u2019s solid road and street course notebook. In 82 combined starts on road and street courses, the team has secured seven top-five and nine top-10 finishes, highlighted by a runner-up result earlier this year.<\/p>\n
Before the green flag drops, explore the unique geometry of the 3.4-mile temporary circuit winding through the naval base:<\/p>\n
Daniel Su\u00e1rez \u2013 No. 7 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet Camaro ZL1<\/p>\n
Daniel Su\u00e1rez will pilot the No. 7 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet, featuring a special C-post honoring the Surface Combat Systems Training Command (SCSTC), which provides highly trained warfighters to maintain, operate, and tactically employ surface combat systems.<\/p>\n
Driver & Team NotesRoad Course Resume: Su\u00e1rez has 42 career starts on road and street circuits, tallying one win, six top-fives, and four top-10s. He captured his first career Cup Series victory at Sonoma Raceway in 2022, becoming the first Mexican-born driver to win a Cup race.Championship Standing: Following a respectable 13th-place effort last weekend at Pocono Raceway, Su\u00e1rez gained a position to rank eighth in the NASCAR Cup Series standings with 450 points, just 11 points out of seventh.International Winner: Su\u00e1rez is no stranger to non-oval success, having won the NASCAR O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Aut\u00f3dromo Hermanos Rodr\u00edguez in Mexico City last season after driving from the back of the field in a backup car.Crew Chief (Ryan Sparks): Sparks earned his first career Cup win at the Coca-Cola 600 earlier this year. He has called 32 road and street course races since 2020, highlighted by an eighth-place finish at Watkins Glen earlier this season.<\/p>\n
Daniel Su\u00e1rez on racing at the Naval Base:<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s going to be very special. Racing on a Navy base is something completely different than anything we\u2019ve done before, and that\u2019s what makes it so exciting. It\u2019s honestly hard to describe how unique this is\u2014being surrounded by so much history and by people who dedicate their lives to serving our country\u2026 We have a chance to bring NASCAR to an incredible venue, honor the men and women who serve, and create something fans will remember for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael McDowell \u2013 No. 71 Defense Unicorns Chevrolet Camaro ZL1<\/p>\n
Michael McDowell takes the wheel of the No. 71 Chevrolet, sponsored this weekend by Defense Unicorns, a veteran-owned defense technology company. The livery features \u201cDoug the Defense Unicorn\u201d alongside Squadron VRM-50, a Fleet Replacement Squadron for the CMV-22B Osprey aircraft.<\/p>\n
Driver & Team NotesStreet Course Strength: In the series\u2019 most recent street race in Chicago last year, McDowell qualified second and led 31 laps before a mechanical failure ended his promising day. In his three attempts at the Chicago Street Course, he boasts an incredible average start of 3.7 and an average finish of 14.7.Road Racing Ace: The 41-year-old driver has claimed one win, nine top-fives, and 18 top-10 finishes on road and street courses in the Cup Series. His most recent victory came at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in 2023.Current Standings: After a 17th-place finish at Pocono, the 2021 Daytona 500 Champion currently sits 20th in the Cup Series standings, just 49 points below the playoff cutline.Spotter Stand Addition: McDowell will have a familiar voice assisting primary spotter Michael Fisher this weekend\u2014his cousin, Jason Noll, will join the team for the inaugural visit to Coronado.<\/p>\n
Michael McDowell on his expectations for San Diego:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be fun, obviously a really cool setting at Naval Base Coronado. We had the chance to get some laps in on the simulator over the last few weeks, which has been helpful in getting acclimated to a new track\u2026 The track itself will have a lot of similar characteristics to Chicago, tight, twisty, technical, with high speeds, and some bumpy sections, transitioning from streets to an airfield, with a lot of different textures and different aggregates. I am ready to get out there, have a good day with Defense Unicorns, pick up a few points on The Chase cutline, and hopefully celebrate in Victory Lane.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carson Hocevar \u2013 No. 77 Spectrum Chevrolet Camaro ZL1<\/p>\n
Carson Hocevar will drive the No. 77 Spectrum Chevrolet, which will sport a striking, unique look this weekend. Inspired by the U.S. Navy\u2019s CMV-22B Osprey aircraft, the car features a predominantly gray design with white and black accents. The livery will also showcase the Naval Base Coronado\u2019s SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape) program.<\/p>\n
Driver & Team NotesCareer-Best Season: The 23-year-old Portage, Michigan native sits ninth in points (449 pts), just a single point out of eighth. He has posted career highs in wins (1), top-fives (4), top-10s (7), and average finish (14.6) through the first 16 races.Street Course Experience: Hocevar has made two Cup Series starts on street courses, both coming at the Chicago Street Race, where he earned a best finish of 24th in 2024.Recent Momentum: Hocevar is coming off a hard-fought 20th-place finish at Pocono Raceway, where he battled handling issues throughout the final stage. Earlier this year, the 2024 Rookie of the Year registered his first career Cup Series victory at Talladega Superspeedway.<\/p>\n
Carson Hocevar on adapting to the unknown:<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it is going to be really cool. The optics are going to be awesome. The racing side is a bit unknown, but I think it\u2019s a good thing that it is unknown for everyone. It is going to come down to who adapts the quickest. I think a lot of people are going to make mistakes, and hopefully I\u2019m not one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
On his approach to street circuits:<\/p>\n
\u201cI enjoy how taxing it is. The less time I have to think, the better it is for me. On street courses, you are locked in on the next corner as soon as you come off the last one. Everything builds off the last and you\u2019re always close to a wall. I enjoy it more than traditional road courses where you have the longer straightaways and you are constantly hopping the curbs. The more I can keep myself busy, the better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Race Info & Broadcast ScheduleRace: Anduril 250 (Race 17 of 36)Track: Naval Base Coronado (3.4-mile street circuit)Date: Sunday, June 21, 2026Time: 4:00 p.m. EDTTV\/Radio: Live on Prime, Motor Racing Network (MRN), and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NASCAR Cup Series makes history this Sunday with the inaugural Anduril 250 at Naval Base Coronado in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":741351,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,82],"class_list":["post-741350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nascar","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/741350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=741350"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/741350\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/741351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=741350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=741350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=741350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}