Three big questions ahead of NASCAR at Naval Base Coronado

The NASCAR Cup Series race at Naval Base Coronado on June 21 is a big one for NASCAR: it's the first race ever on an active US military base and a celebration of America's 250th anniversary, as well as the first race at a new venue and a crucial race as the regular season winds down. 

Here are three big questions ahead of the Anduril 250. 

Can anyone beat Shane van Gisbergen? 

SVG has a combined 12 road course wins in NASCAR's top-two series, including seven at the Cup level and one in 2026 at Watkins Glen. He won in his Cup Series debut at the Chicago Street Course in 2023 and has been the undisputed king of NASCAR road racing since. 

What may give the field a leg up on SVG this week is that he doesn't he, along with the rest of the field, is seeing the track for the first time. Sunday's race is about as big of a wild card event as there is in NASCAR. 

Then again, that didn't stop him from winning Chicago in 2023 or Mexico City last year. He's the favorite for a reason, and unless he crashes out of Sunday's race, he's likely to at least be in the fight for the win. 

Can Denny Hamlin win four races in a row?

Short answer: no. At least, probably not. 

Hamlin won three races in a row for the first time in his Cup Series career and has won four of five, including the exhibition All-Star Race on May 17. The No. 11 team is on fire right now, and Hamlin is now the Cup Series title favorite. 

A win at Naval Base Coronado would make him the first driver since Jimmie Johnson in 2007 to win four straight Cup races. But SVG is, of course, the favorite to win Sunday, and even if he wasn't, road courses are far from Hamlin's strong suit. He has only one road course victory to his credit at Watkins Glen in 2016. 

Hamlin did finish fourth in last year's race at the Chicago Street Course, which might be the most comparable track to Naval Base Coronado. A victory for Hamlin on Sunday would be a shocker, but it's hard to count the No. 11 team out anywhere right now. 

Can Tyler Reddick expand points lead?

Tyler Reddick hasn't been bad during Hamlin's tear, but his points lead over his team co-owner has been whittled down from 129 points to just 19 over the last five races. The good news for Reddick is that he's much better on road courses than Hamlin, winning on them three times in his Cup career. 

Reddick finished second and third, respectively, in the last two Cup races at the Chicago Street Course and won at Circuit of the Americas earlier in the season. He might be the most viable challenger to SVG, but more importantly, a top 10 run on Sunday would likely be enough for Reddick to expand his points lead over Hamlin. 

With another road course race at Sonoma coming up on June 28, the next two weeks are a massive opportunity for the No. 45 team to gain some ground back in the hunt for the No. 1 seed in the Chase.