NASCAR is ready to go all in this weekend. The Anduril 250 winner’s trophy at the San Diego Naval Base in Coronado is up for grabs. This 3.4-mile-long track with a paved surface will pose a major challenge for drivers due to its unique asphalt as they complete 75 laps around it in three stages.

Drivers will navigate 16 turns in a counterclockwise layout. The pit road is located between turns 16 and 1. The layout leads to ‘backward’ pit stops, mirroring Watkins Glen. The spotters, meanwhile, will be in four locations.

This pit road entry will be similar to Sonoma. Drivers are going to be momentarily off the circuit as they commit after a white line and go 170 feet further before pit road speeds are applied.

Spotters will position themselves between turns 2–3, after turns 5 and 8, and at the white building, the main spot, between turns 15–16. These locations were curated with the input from spotters themselves.

Things start to get interesting from turn 4 onwards, which features crane tracks embedded in asphalt to support shoreline infrastructure. NASCAR mentions that this portion of the circuit required heavy smoothing, and the tracks couldn’t simply be removed. For a change of scenery, NASCAR recommends turn 5, which resembles a residential area more than a street circuit or a naval base.

Again, over 150 valves, manhole covers, and electrical boxes were welded shut, surfaces that will rattle drivers’ cars. There is also some pavement added to the chicane for turn 4.

As for the rest of the circuits, turns 1 and 2 feature the biggest elevation change, going downhill into turn 2, and turns 8 to 13 are just active tarmac and taxiways. But right before turn 8, Choose V is located at the end of the shoreline portion.

As drivers approach the end of turn 15, they will pass the alternate start/finish line and will enter the restart zone that extends up to the end of turn 16. They can race as soon as they exit this restart zone and pass right before the S/F line.

A major change in the schedule is brought in the form of ‘quickie yellows.’ As their name suggests, these are short, quick caution flags thrown around to quickly take care of any hazard on track or during the stage cautions. Quickie yellows are mandatory, since the track’s length demands rapid hazard clearance to prevent excessive race duration.

While NASCAR has detailed a list of the difficulties they faced and the changes they brought forward to the circuit in order to facilitate racing, drivers are facing issues as they try to tackle the unique conditions at the Coronado street course.

Shane van Gisbergen crashes during simulator practice

With limited time on their hands to get accustomed to the track, drivers are turning to the simulator in order to help them practice and get ready for Coronado and its obstacles during the race. Naturally, SVG, who assisted in track development, naturally tested it on the simulator.

When he logged onto iRacing to practice the track, something unexpected happened. The road course ace crashed. According to him, the track starts to pester the driver right from the get-go in turn 1 and ends up being a bumpy ride from then on.

Connor Zilisch joined in with his own plight about how he has been crashing during the sim practice now and then because of the 90-degree turns and the multiple stop-and-go zones around the track. As SVG mentions, every corner of the track is a unique challenge, and drivers will approach it the same way as the Chicago Street Course.