Corey Heim scores first Cup win at San Diego street race

Corey Heim won the NASCAR Cup Series race at Naval Base Coronado in San Diego, beating Tyler Reddick in the closing laps to earn his first career Cup victory in only his 13th start. Heim became the first first-time Cup winner at the inaugural event on the 16-turn, 3.4-mile street course. Reddick remained the points leader with 716 points after the race, while Denny Hamlin moved to within eight points of the championship lead.

The race turned on a late setback for Reddick, who missed a corner and suffered a flat tire with two laps remaining after leading late in the run. Earlier, an opening wreck involving Connor Zilisch and Shane van Gisbergen reshuffled the front of the field, and a Stage 2 red flag followed a multi-car incident involving Austin Hill, van Gisbergen and others. Ryan Blaney won Stage 1 and Ryan Preece took Stage 2, with Preece’s 19 stage points improving his Chase outlook.

23XI Racing had a strong showing at the front. Reddick led laps, and Bubba Wallace delivered a career-best road-course result with a second-place finish. Kyle Larson finished third, Zane Smith was fourth and Riley Herbst finished eighth for the team. AJ Allmendinger, Chris Buescher, Ross Chastain, Blaney and Michael McDowell were among the other drivers in the top 10, while Brad Keselowski, William Byron, Zilisch and van Gisbergen left with costly points losses.