The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Naval Base Coronado for the inaugural Anduril 250, where Shane Van Gisbergen, Ty Gibbs, and Michael McDowell headline this week’s betting picks and value predictions.
Anduril 250 Picks
Date: Sunday, June 21, 2026
Track: Naval Base Coronado (Qualcomm Circuit)
Time: 4:00 PM ET
Channel: Prime
What Did We Learn From Last Weekend?
Three wins in a row. 64 career Cup wins. And a record 8 wins at Pocono alone. Denny Hamlin is on fire. It’s very clear that the team is also at a record high confidence level. Hamlin played strategy well throughout the race and got his #11 Toyota back to victory lane after also being there at Nashville and Michigan. Hamlin definitely has the speed and strategy where some other drivers struggled this weekend.
Christopher Bell was one of the drivers not so fortunate but willing to take a risk. He was also battling a broken wrist after a very hard hit at Michigan last weekend. Although it was a gamble, Bell decided to forgo fuel but quickly realized that was not going to play out well for him. Hamlin passed Bell with 4 laps to go, with Bell ultimately running out when the white flag flew leaving him with a 26th place finish on the day. But as he said, it was worth it. Pocono is one of those tracks where fuel mileage strategy almost always wins or loses a race for drivers. Tyler Reddick came home second followed by William Byron, John Hunter Nemechek, and Kyle Larson. It was Nemechek’s best finish this season and also allowed him to lead the most laps in one race in his Cup Series career. Larson had a solid finish on the day, finally giving the HMS garage something to celebrate along with his teammate William Byron. Erik Jones, Chris Buescher, Ross Chastain, Ty Gibbs, and Ryan Blaney rounded out the top 10 spot.
Where Are We Headed This Weekend?
These guys are going to have their work cut out for them. Hopefully, they haven’t gotten too comfortable with these intermediate tracks. This weekend, the drivers and teams are heading to an inaugural race at the Qualcomm Circuit, taking place on Naval Base Coronado. The “Race the Base” themed event is a celebration of America’s 250th birthday. This temporary road/street course boasts 16 total turns with a couple of chicanes thrown in there. It’s a total of 3.4 miles with 75 laps. This 255 mile race will be awesome to watch as the drivers and teams try to figure out car setup throughout the day.
Odds and Value Picks
When it comes to picking a winner, there’s really only one guy we need to even mention. We have the one driver that basically owns everything road or street course and the rest of the drivers are just figuring out how to catch him. Current NASCAR betting odds are available at Bovada. Here’s a look at your potential winners heading into Sunday’s big race:
Winner: Shane Van Gisbergen (-175)
You just can’t beat him. It doesn’t matter what track it’s at as long as it’s some form of a road course or street course.
It’s probably better that no one has raced this track before. SVG is your winner. Period.
Mid-Range Pick: Ty Gibbs (+1600)
Gibbs has 4 top 5 finishes and 6 top 10 finishes on road courses throughout his Cup Series career. Although he has yet to capture a win, he has 4 road course victories in the Xfinity Series. This is going to be a strong weekend for him.
Dark Horse: Michael McDowell (+1800)
Don’t count Michael out here. He won the road course at Indy back in 2023 and also has 18 top 10 finishes along with 9 top 5 finishes at road courses throughout his career. He’s one of the best at these types of tracks, nearly taking the win at the Chicago street course.
Points Picture Heading Into Coronado
McDowell needs the win for the points, as do many other drivers. Pocono didn’t do too much damage other than cutting Reddick’s lead down further with Hamlin taking the win. Let’s see where your top 16 drivers are sitting after Sunday’s race:
1. Tyler Reddick
2. Denny Hamlin
3. Ryan Blaney
4. Chase Elliott
5. Ty Gibbs
6. Kyle Larson
7. Chris Buescher
8. Daniel Suarez
9. Carson Hocevar
10. Christopher Bell
11. William Byron
12. Chase Briscoe
13. Bubba Wallace
14. Shane Van Gisbergen
15. Erik Jones
16. Austin Cindric
Jones was the big winner for the week, jumping 3 positions and back into the championship playoff field. Keselowski and Logano are just outside of the top 16, with both drivers being strong road course runners. Will they be able to redeem themselves this weekend? We’ll have to wait and see. Stay tuned for an awesome day of road course racing at our inaugural Race the Base event in sunny California!
