Overview
- Saturday qualifying produced a 2:14.788 lap from Shane van Gisbergen to claim pole and put Carson Hocevar second while points leader Tyler Reddick, after brushing the wall late in the session, will start 17th.
- The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series ran earlier in the weekend and Layne Riggs won the inaugural Navy 250 after multiple cautions and an overtime restart.
- The Coronado layout combines new pavement, aged streets, concrete aircraft surfaces and embedded rails, which caused heavy tire degradation and practice damage and has left teams with limited live data for race setup.
- Organizers scheduled the Anduril 250 for Sunday at 4 p.m. ET with exclusive coverage on Amazon Prime Video, increasing pressure on crew chiefs to make the right in-race tire and pit-call decisions.
- Driver storylines to watch include Reddick’s championship implications starting midpack, Christopher Bell’s recovery and possible relief-driver plan, and Project 91 guest entries such as Kevin Magnussen and Jimmie Johnson altering team strategies.