Fantasy NASCAR DFS Picks on DraftKings for the Anduril 250 at Naval Base Coronado

History will be made in NASCAR's Cup Series on Sunday.

For the first time ever, the series will race on a street course in San Diego at the Coronado Naval Base. It's the second street circuit in the organization's history.

This 3.4-mile road course will be particularly challenging in terms of grip and navigate of tight corners and alleys. Considering it's the first time NASCAR is racing on the layout, mistakes will be made, and the cream should rise to the top.

The green flag for Sunday's race is expected to drop at 4:29 p.m. EST on Amazon Prime.

Every week, DraftKings Daily Fantasy has NASCAR contests for all three of the top touring series. Here are my favorite picks for Sunday's Anduril 250.

Anduril 250 in San Diego NASCAR DFS Studs to Target

Shane Van Gisbergen ($13,000)

There is no data point this weekend that realistically argues for a fade of Shane Van Gisbergen. You'll have to pray for an incident if you do.

"SVG" has an average finish of 2.3 in his last 10 road course starts and has won 5 of the last 6 road course events. The #97 team was even on the wrong strategy at Watkins Glen, and the New Zealander just drove through the field anyway.

With extensive experience in Australian Supercars, which are close in driveability to NASCAR Next Gen cars in the Cup Series, no one in the field is matching Van Gisbergen's pacing and footwork over a multi-lap sample:

Take a look at @shanevg97’s footwork racing around the #NASCARChicago street course.

Van Gisbergen is a three-time @supercars champion. 🏆 pic.twitter.com/KLPvbJLqrk
— NASCAR on USA (@NASCARonUSA) July 1, 2023

The variance of a new track that was chaos in Friday's Craftsman Truck Series race is slightly present, but Van Gisbergen is easily the favorite in Sunday's race. He's on pole, too.

Ty Gibbs ($9,700)

In 2026, you could make a real argument that Gibbs has been the silver medalist to Van Gisbergen in both road course events so far.

Gibbs finished fourth and third, respectively, at COTA and Watkins Glen. He led 22 laps. Overall, he's scored a top-10 finish in four of his last six races going right and left

Unlike SVG, Gibbs was extremely quick in Friday's practice session, too. He was third behind Kyle Larson and Todd Gilliland.

Gibbs starts 11th, providing a little place-differential upside, too.

Anduril 250 in San Diego NASCAR DFS Mid Tier Picks

Kyle Larson ($8,900)

Once NASCAR's road course ace, Kyle Larson seems ready to mix it up in his home state.

Larson has 10 top-three finishes on road courses in his Cup Series, including 6 wins. He's just run into a string of bad luck recently with three incidents surrounding two other top-six finishes.

The two-time Cup Series champion will look to keep the fenders intact on what appears to be a pretty fast hot road. He paced practice on Friday before qualifying 14th.

His teammate, Chase Elliott, should be pretty popular starting 30th, but Larson seems to have gotten a better handle on this street course, per Elliott's 21st-ranked practice time and poor qualifying effort.

Michael McDowell ($8,800)

Michael McDowell is another fast driver in this $8,000 range, which also includes notorious road ringer A.J. Allmendinger ($8,500).

The driver of the #71 Chevrolet enters on a three-race streak of top fives at road courses, and his average finish of 12.9 since the start of 2023 is sixth-best among full-time drivers.

McDowell slotted seventh in practice and qualified eighth.

While there's a bit of risk turning to a guy who probably won't overtake SVG and doesn't offer much place-differential upside, it seems ideal to put a lot of faith in road-course specialists for this high-variance event. McDowell posted consecutive top-seven finishes when the Chicago Street Course was new to the schedule.

Anduril 250 in San Diego NASCAR DFS Budget Plays

Austin Cindric ($7,100)

It's been a bit surprising that Penske's Austin Cindric hasn't been much more of a threat on road courses as a Cup regular.

He won on five different layouts in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, but he has just 5 top-10 finishes on road courses in 28 Cup starts. One of them was in the current aero package at Watkins Glen in May, though.

Uncharacteristically, Cindric has struggled this week. He as 37th in practice and qualified 31st. However, what that means is the proficient road racer offers a tantalizing duo of place-differential upside and floor from starting spot.

It wouldn't be insane for Cindric to net a top 10 in Sunday's event. I can't imagine leaving him behind in cash games.

Austin Hill ($6,000)

This value tier is a true Sophie's choice: fast drivers with a lot of incident risk -- like Todd Gilliland ($5,900) or Corey Heim ($6,800) -- or poor road racers with high floors such as Erik Jones ($6,800) and Josh Berry ($5,400).

Austin Hill is a little bit of a compromise when he starts 10th, but he'll need a top-15 finish to pan out. The good news? He seems to really have risen to the challenge this weekend, ranking ninth in practice.

In the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, Hill is a strong road racer. Since the start of 2023, he has 13 top-five finishes in 23 starts on them.

I'm a believer -- mostly due to the extra laps he received running Saturday's O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race. He won the thing, too.

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