A nine-car crash midway through the Anduril 250 eliminated race favorite Shane van Gisbergen and put him in the precarious position of possibly missing the post-season.
Van Gisbergen’s 38th-place finish dropped him outside the top 16 in the standings that qualify for the Chase’s post season. The New Zealander is 17th in the standings, five points behind Ryan Preece in 16th, with nine races remaining in the regular season.
“It’s just unfortunate,” Van Gisbergen said about the crash.
When asked how disappointed he was about the situation he replied, “I’m filthy.”
Van Gisbergen led twice for seven laps before being eliminated in the lap 32 multi-car crash that occurred on the restart following the third caution period. Also eliminated was Van Gisbergen’s Trackhouse Racing teammate Connor Zilisch. The NASCAR Cup rookie’s 37th-place finish was his fourth of 37th or worse in the last five races.
“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,” Zilisch said. “I felt like we were just pacing ourselves and trying to get to the end of the race. I felt like we were really good, so it’s just unfortunate to have our day end like that.”
The accident occurred when leader Austin Hill locked up the rear brakes on his Chevrolet entering turn one.
“I got into turn one a little deep and started sliding,” Hill said. “I was sliding the rears, and I slid the fronts a little bit. On corner exit, I was fully locked to the right just trying to stay off the No. 88 (Zilisch). It’s one of those racing deals.
“If I had the extra car width and the No. 88 wasn’t there, I would have cleared fine but knowing that he was out there, I carried a little too much entry pace compared to what I had been doing all day. Right when I touched him and he got in the wall, it sucked me into him and I couldn’t stay off of him.”
Also collected in the melee were Daniel Suare, Ryan Blaney, Riley Herbst, John Hunter Nemechek, Ty Gibbs, and Michael McDowell.
Track workers needed 9 minutes 33 seconds to repair the wall damaged in the crash.
Reddick’s Flat Allows Hamlin to Close Gap
When eventual race winner Corey Heim passed Tyler Reddick for the lead with three laps remaining, it appeared his 23XI Racing teammate might gain a little breathing room in the standings lead with a second-place finish.
However, Reddick’s Toyota suffered a left-front flat and he had to settle for a 25th-place finish. It was just his second finish outside the top 20 this season but his second in the last three races. Denny Hamlin, with a 14th-place finish, is now just eight points behind Reddick with nine races remaining in the regular season.
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“We were involved in so much today,” Reddick said. “To even have a shot at it at the end was really nice.
“We kind of just struggled with rear tire life all weekend long. I got beat by our own stuff. We’ll try to figure this out. It definitely stings.”
Reddick said he didn’t mean to run eventual winner and 23XI Racing teammate Corey Heim into the wall when they were dueling for the lead.
“I wasn’t going to pass him for the win that way, especially a teammate,” Reddick said. “I don’t know if I cut the tire during, before or after. I’m not really sure.
“Really needed a good points day. Had another really bad one.”
After the Coca-Cola 600, Reddick owned a 122-point lead over Hamlin who was second in the standings. Hamlin then won three consecutive races and became a challenger for the regular season championship that many had given to Reddick a month ago.
“I felt really good about where our car was all day,” Hamlin said. “We were at the line on pit road and he says, ‘I don’t think you’re going to make it’ and I steered hard left and the caution came out. That stunk. Had to start 19th or 20thon the last restart and only could get back to 14th. Inside the top 15, that was the agenda for this week and will try to go to Sonoma and do the same thing.”
Wallace Produces Best Road Course Finish
Bubba Wallace overcame a two-lap deficit to place second in the Anduril 250, his best finish ever in a street/road course event; however, it was a tough day.
Wallace lost two laps when the right-front wheel came off his Toyota on lap 19 following a pit stop. The front tire changer knew the single lug wasn’t tight when Wallace left his pit, but he couldn’t stop him. The lug fell off in turn six and then the wheel came off in turn nine on the 16-turn, 3.4-mile course on the Naval Base Coronado. NASCAR assessed Wallace a two-lap penalty for the wheel.
The 23XI Racing driver regained one lost lap on the third caution period and then was the beneficiary when the fourth yellow waved for the nine-car crash. With 20 laps remaining, Wallace was sixth. Ten laps later he was third and took over second when teammate Tyler Reddick’s Toyota had a left-front tire issue. It was Wallace’s second top five in the last three races.
“We are all busting our ass to perform and to have a little thing not go our way,” Wallace said. “I’ve got to focus on what we can control.”
Larson Leads Chevrolet
Kyle Larson, still trying to break a winless streak that now sits at 41 races, led the Chevrolet camp in the inaugural race on Naval Base Coronado, posting a third-place finish in the Anduril 250 after leading twice for 11 laps.
“I’m surprised how scuffed up it is because we had a super-clean day, as clean of a race you can have on a street course,” Larson said.
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Kyle Larson (right) racing against Shane van Gisbergen.
“We had a shot at the win there, if the strategy would have played out. I think it was between us and the No. 67 (winner Corey Heim).”
However, a caution with 13 laps remaining changed the race’s complexion and made it a duel between Heim and 23XI Racing teammate Tyler Reddick.
“They were just super strong,” Larson said about the Toyotas. “They had a great package for the street course here.”
Smith Top Performer for Ford
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Zane Smith.
Zane Smith recorded his third top-10 finish in the last five races in the Anduril 250 to lead the Ford camp.
“(Crew chief) Ryan Bergenty did a phenomenal job to put me in the best position possible, to stay on offense and not just put me in a bad spot where things get a little chaotic,” Smith said after finishing fourth for his second top five this season. “Road courses have been horrible for myself and this 38 team. We learned some in practice and made a good run out of it, so that makes me excited. Whether we had a bad finish or a good finish, we showed a lot of speed today (Sunday). I felt like that was the final area our team had to check that box.”
Bell Turns Car Over to Crews
When the first caution period occurred 12 laps into the inaugural Anduril 250, Christopher Bell, still dealing with a broken left wrist, stepped out of his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and turned it over to JGR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series driver Brent Crews.
The two had practiced the driver exchange often during the week leading up to the race. Even though it occurred during the yellow flag, Crews still found himself 37thon the restart. However, it was a mechanical issue on lap 30 that sidelined the team. That left Bell with a last-place finish in the 39-car field and cost him two positions in the driver standings. He dropped from 10th to 12th with nine races remaining in the regular season.
“I was kind of going through the gears and it just broke,” Crews said. “I’m going to have to have Adam (Stevens, crew chief) to look over it and myself to figure out if it was something I did or if it was just a freak accident. Once I look at it, I’ll have more answers.”
Special Homecoming for Goodyear Employee
Numerous former military personnel work in the NASCAR community, but for 21-year Goodyear Racing associate Art Clever, the weekend on Naval Base Coronado was a special homecoming.
Forty-one years ago, Clever served on the base as an Aviation Electricians Mate (AE3). He celebrated his return by visiting his old shop in the VRC-30 building. Clever also accomplished his 41-year-old dream of signing the wall, a tradition at the end of enlistment. He never had the chance to sign it until this weekend because he was transferred to a different duty station before leaving the Navy.
Clever has been with Goodyear Racing for 21 years, serving as the race event operations manager. His duties include overseeing at-track tire distribution and collection.
A North Carolina native, Deb Williams is an award-winning motorsports journalist who is in her fourth decade covering auto racing. In addition to covering the sport for United Press International, she has written motorsports articles for several newspapers, magazines and websites including espnW.com, USA Today, and The Charlotte Observer. Her awards include the American Motorsports Media Award of Excellence, two-time National Motorsports Press Association writer of the year, and two-time recipient of the Russ Catlin award. She also has won an award in the North Carolina Press Association’s sports feature category. During her career, Deb has been managing editor of GT Motorsports magazine and was with Winston Cup Scene and NASCAR Winston Cup Scene for 18 years, serving as the publication’s editor for 10 years. In 2024 she was inducted into the NMPA Hall of Fame.