NASCAR Anduril 250 takeaways: Corey Heim makes statement with first Cup Series win at Naval Base Coronado

As the Prime Video telecast noted, Heim is the eighth driver to win his first race on a road course and the first since Shane van Gisbergen at Chicago in 2023. 

Heim had a previous best finish of sixth in the 2025 fall race at Bristol, but he is one of the hottest prospects in the entire sport and long overdue for a full-time ride. After winning in just his 13th start on Sunday, Heim more than proved why he was rewarded for his talents and could be a future star of the sport.

23XI Racing impresses

Even though Heim's breakthrough win was noteworthy enough, the entire 23XI organization had a banner day at Naval Base Coronado. 

Despite losing a right front wheel on Lap 18 and the two laps that serve as the penalty, Wallace was the beneficiary of two quick cautions in Stage 2 and quickly mounted a charge back toward the front for a career-best runner-up finish on a road/street course. 

Meanwhile, Riley Herbst equaled his best finish of the season in eighth and Reddick was in line for another win before the tire issue plummeted him to 25th by the race's end. With the recent domination from Denny Hamlin and Joe Gibbs Racing, Sunday served as a reminder that 23XI Racing should not be left out of the conversation.

Shane van Gisbergen among notables collected in big crash

Despite the unknowns and challenges that were ahead of drivers in the series' first race on an active military base, van Gisbergen was the clear favorite entering the weekend.

Any chance he had of tacking on an eighth road/street course win in 15 starts dissipated on a Lap 31 restart when Austin Hill and rookie Connor Zilisch got together battling for the lead and triggered a multi-car crash involving van Gisbergen and several of the race's contenders.

The crash marked Zilisch's sixth DNF of his rookie season and his fourth straight finish outside the top 20. For van Gisbergen, it was a huge missed opportunity as he currently sits five points behind Ryan Preece for the final "Chase" spot.

Tire wear creates multiple strategies

After drivers made their first laps in Friday's practice session, NASCAR made the decision to give them some additional sets of tires for Sunday's race.

It was apparent from the opening laps that drivers were fighting rear grip issues. In fact, it was only eight laps into the race that Chase Elliott and Reddick hit pit road for scheduled stops. That forced drivers to manage tire wear throughout the race and made for a fascinating day of chess as teams tried to get the most out of their tires.