Shane van Gisbergen has spent most of his 37 years living under the Southern Cross.
So when the road racing master from New Zealand was told he was representing NASCAR at a Coronado event Tuesday, he had to find his destination on a map.
“My knowledge of American geography is not very good,” said the driver known as SVG. “Everywhere I go in this country is different. The land is different, the weather is different, the people are different.”
But van Gisbergen’s knowledge of road and street courses on NASCAR’s schedule is excellent.
Although he was seeing Naval Station Coronado for the first time Tuesday morning, Van Gisbergen has already been established as the driver to beat in the Anduril 250 NASCAR Cup race on June 21.
“I try to temper expectations,” said van Gisbergen, who has won seven of his first 14 starts on NASCAR road courses and street tracks. “Everyone is very good in this series. I try to keep pretty level about it. But I’m pretty good on this kind of track.”
Pretty good?
In his most recent road race, van Gisbergen won by over seven seconds on the historic Watkins Glen road course after training by 29.2 seconds while running 26th with 24 laps to go.
“Watkins Glen was certainly fun,” said van Gisbergen. “It was fun being the attacker, being more seconds behind than there were laps to go.”
NASCAR Cup Series driver, Shane Van Gisbergen drives the NASCAR San Diego course simulator (SIM) at the Naval Base Coronado on June 09, 2026 in Coronado, California. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images)
Which is one of the reasons why NASCAR brought van Gisbergen to Coronado on Tuesday.
First, NASCAR wanted to show off the 3.4-mile, 16-turn street course that is rapidly taking shape. And NASCAR was also releasing the iRacing simulator game featuring the Coronado course. What better driver to discuss the made-from-scratch track and debut a road racing simulation?
“I just had a basic look at the track, mostly the street sections,” said van Gisbergen. “It certainly has different grip levels. Street tracks evolve. There are changes every day. As a driver, you have to keep up with the track as it changes. The course should be good. I plan to prepare more now using the simulator.
“Certainly, this race is a good opportunity for us.”
With 10 days to go until the first cars hit the track at Coronado, the circuit is looking more like a race track than streets and the air station tarmac. Grandstands that will seat 40,000 of the 50,000 attendees are mostly in place. The main straightaway and the pits are ready for teams to arrive. The concrete barriers that line the circuit are being positioned at the pace of 1/3 of a mile per day.
“We’re exactly on pace to be ready to go when it is time to go,” said Amy Lupo, the president of NASCAR’s San Diego Weekend. “There has been great cooperation between the Navy and NASCAR to make this happen.”
A general view of construction workers installing fencing to the top of concrete barriers for the NASCAR San Diego course at the Naval Base Coronado on June 09, 2026 in Coronado, California. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images)
NASCAR also announced Tuesday that the June 19 Craftsman Trucks race will be named the Navy 250, commemorating the 250th anniversary of the United States Navy. The truck race will be the feature of Navy Community Day, with tickets going to local military personnel and selected residents of Coronado.