Corey Heim took a stunning first win in the NASCAR Cup Series on the streets of Coronado Naval Base on Sunday afternoon.
In just his 13th career start in the premier series of the sport, the part-time 23XI Racing star stunned fans and rivals in San Diego to take the victory, ten seconds ahead of team-mate Bubba Wallace in second place.
The No. 67 car looked fast all day, and immediately vaulted into contention for the win when pre-race favorite Shane van Gisbergen's day was ended by a huge wreck on Lap 32, that incident also taking out Van Gisbergen's Trackhouse team-mate Connor ZIlisch.
With the race completely opened up, Heim ended up battling team-mate Tyler Reddick for the win in the dying laps before the No. 45 blew a tire while running in second, leaving the 23-year-old to cruise home to a memorable first victory.
Two incidents have massive Chase implications
That flat tire ruined what had been a good day for points leader Reddick, dropping him to 25th at the finish and meaning that he comes out of the weekend with Denny Hamlin (14th) 11 points closer to him – a weekend when the leader was expected to refill some of his points buffer.
23XI Racing may have been robbed of their first ever 1-2-3 finish by Reddick's late issue, Wallace's run to second did secure their first ever 1-2, especially impressive after the No. 23 was given a two-lap penalty early in the race for losing a tire on track after it was improperly secured on pit road.
Meanwhile, things could hardly have gone worse for the No. 97 and Shane van Gisbergen. The Trackhouse star and overwhelming race favorite was running well coming up to the halfway point when Austin Hill made an error running into Turn 1 at a caution restart, demolishing his car and retiring him from the race on the spot.
The choice to flip the first stage in order to improve his chances of a race win means that the Kiwi leaves San Diego with just a single point, a devastating result from a weekend where he was expected to pick up at least 60.
That leaves him in real jeopardy heading into the final road course of the year next weekend at Sonoma. A win would give him the buffer he desperately needs going into an eight-race run of ovals, while anything short of that will all-but eliminate him from Chase contention. He now sits three points short of the cut line.
Who won the NASCAR Cup Series race at San Diego today?
Here are the results from the Anduril 250 from San Diego on Sunday.
Race Results
| Pos | Driver (Car No.) | Team (OEM) | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Corey Heim (#67) | 23XI Racing (Toyota) | 0 |
| 2 | Bubba Wallace (#23) | 23XI Racing (Toyota) | 35 |
| 3 | Kyle Larson (#5) | Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet) | 42 |
| 4 | Zane Smith (#38) | Front Row Motorsports (Ford) | 33 |
| 5 | AJ Allmendinger (#16) | Kaulig Racing (Chevrolet) | 45 |
| 6 | Chris Buescher (#17) | RFK Racing (Ford) | 39 |
| 7 | Ross Chastain (#1) | Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet) | 33 |
| 8 | Riley Herbst (#35) | 23XI Racing (Toyota) | 38 |
| 9 | Ryan Blaney (#12) | Team Penske (Ford) | 44 |
| 10 | Michael McDowell (#71) | Spire Motorsports (Chevrolet) | 27 |
| 11 | Ryan Preece (#60) | RFK Racing (Ford) | 45 |
| 12 | Chase Elliott (#9) | Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet) | 25 |
| 13 | Daniel Suárez (#7) | Spire Motorsports (Chevrolet) | 28 |
| 14 | Denny Hamlin (#11) | Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota) | 23 |
| 15 | Ty Gibbs (#54) | Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota) | 29 |
| 16 | John Hunter Nemechek (#42) | Legacy Motor Club (Toyota) | 21 |
| 17 | Chase Briscoe (#19) | Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota) | 20 |
| 18 | Joey Logano (#22) | Team Penske (Ford) | 23 |
| 19 | Carson Hocevar (#77) | Spire Motorsports (Chevrolet) | 27 |
| 20 | Erik Jones (#43) | Legacy Motor Club (Toyota) | 17 |
| 21 | Todd Gilliland (#34) | Front Row Motorsports (Ford) | 23 |
| 22 | Austin Cindric (#2) | Team Penske (Ford) | 15 |
| 23 | Cody Ware (#51) | Rick Ware Racing (Chevrolet) | 14 |
| 24 | Austin Dillon (#3) | Richard Childress Racing (Chevrolet) | 13 |
| 25 | Tyler Reddick (#45) | 23XI Racing (Toyota) | 12 |
| 26 | Alex Bowman (#48) | Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet) | 11 |
| 27 | Kevin Magnussen (#91) | Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet) | 11 |
| 28 | Jimmie Johnson (#84) | Legacy Motor Club (Toyota) | 9 |
| 29 | Josh Berry (#21) | Wood Brothers Racing (Ford) | 8 |
| 30 | Ty Dillon (#10) | Kaulig Racing (Chevrolet) | 7 |
| 31 | Cole Custer (#41) | Haas Factory Team (Chevrolet) | 6 |
| 32 | William Byron (#24) | Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet) | 6 |
| 33 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (#47) | Hyak Motorsports (Chevrolet) | 4 |
| 34 | Brad Keselowski (#6) | RFK Racing (Ford) | 3 |
| 35 | Noah Gragson (#4) | Front Row Motorsports (Ford) | 2 |
| 36 | Austin Hill (#33) | Richard Childress Racing (Chevrolet) | 0 |
| 37 | Connor Zilisch (#88) | Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet) | 3 |
| 38 | Shane van Gisbergen (#97) | Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet) | 1 |
| 39 | Christopher Bell (#20) | Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota) | 1 |
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