Denny Hamlin’s winning streak — Nashville, Michigan, Pocono — has likely (“most certainly” might be the better phrase) come to an end, and now it’s Shane Van Gisbergen’s turn to take center stage. While Hamlin has been “him” lately, the NASCAR Cup Series heads to San Diego’s Coronado Street Course for the first time, and street courses are not where Hamlin shines or even glimmers. It’s SVG Nation this week, and all bets are on him. Seriously, he’s at -210 in the odds, followed by Connor Zilisch at +615.As always, Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi answer our most pressing questions and make predictions about the upcoming race.The Anduril 250 at Coronado Street Course is Sunday at 4 p.m. ET on Prime Video and HBO Max.Race winner odds for the Anduril 250Hamlin is on a roll, winning the last three — count ’em, three! — straight, closing in on Tyler Reddick in the Cup standings, but street and road courses are not Hamlin’s forte. What are Hamlin’s chances for some success at San Diego, and, with this spectacular season, do you think he can reach the 60-60 club in his career?Jeff: Hamlin’s chances this week are about as good as the Chargers moving back to San Diego. He is simply not a road course guy, and a street course is even tougher. He has said a top-15 finish would be a success, and that’s no exaggeration. Since Reddick should run in the top five and will be in contention to win the race if something happens to van Gisbergen, that could be a problem. Hamlin needs to try to limit the damage for the next two weeks (with another road course at Sonoma coming next). That said, he’ll win more races this season and get more poles — it’s not out of the question he could approach 70 career victories this season.Jordan: The hot streak Hamlin has been on is, in all likelihood, coming to an end at San Diego. Road courses are not his strength — he’s won just once in his career on a road course — making this week and next week at Sonoma all about limiting how many points he bleeds to Reddick. Looking at the big picture, 70 wins feels obtainable for Hamlin by the time he retires after the 2027 season.How will the street and road courses left on the Cup Series schedule impact the standings?Jeff: This is a crucial two weeks for the standings, as road course specialists need to collect a large chunk of points while bubble drivers who aren’t as good at these circuits need to finish the race and grab whatever results they can. And the focus should primarily rest on SVG, who is 14th in the standings but only 10 points inside the cutoff line. He could very well expand his cushion to 50 or 60 points in the next two weeks, and he almost has to in order to have a realistic chance to make the Chase. If even one of these next two races ends in a crash or mechanical failure, it could doom SVG’s entire season. So regardless of whether he wins, he’ll be a major storyline in these two California races.Jordan: Beyond SVG and his quest to make the Chase, these two road course races will also have an impact on the battle between Reddick and Hamlin for the regular-season championship. As noted above, Hamlin isn’t the best on road courses, whereas Reddick is. This provides the 23XI Racing driver a great opportunity to pad his points’ lead over Hamlin, which has shrunk considerably in recent weeks.
NASCAR San Diego Q&A, odds: Can anyone beat SVG? Only given a ‘fluke circumstance’
Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi discuss Denny Hamlin's struggles on street courses, Kevin Magnussen's debut and much more.












