Practice is done on a street course nobody had driven, and a rookie is the favorite. Brent Crews is +160. Here are the five O'Reilly drivers who can win in San Diego — ranked, with odds.
Practice is in the books on a street course nobody had ever driven — and an 18-year-old rookie came out the favorite. Brent Crews is +160 after nearly topping the board. With no Cup stars in the field, here are the five drivers who can win the first O’Reilly race at Naval Base Coronado.
San Diego Street Course · O’Reilly San Diego · June 2026 · By PitByNumbers Staff · 8 min read Why these five Brent Crews is the new favorite, and he earned it — he nearly topped the only practice this field will ever get on a street course no one had driven. But “it doesn’t pay to be fastest in practice,” as the booth put it, and on a 3.4-mile, 16-turn street course where track position is everything, qualifying matters more than it does anywhere all year. Here’s the part the board doesn’t show: the most decorated road racers in the field — Sam Mayer, Justin Allgaier — ran mid-pack on purpose, creeping up to the limit while the fast names sent it.
And crucially, there are no Cup ringers this week. No Connor Zilisch, no Shane van Gisbergen. This is O’Reilly regulars only — which is exactly why five of them have a real shot at the trophy.
1. Brent Crews — To Win (+160) Start with the rookie, because the board already does. Crews ran second in the only practice this field will get — and he should have been first.
He caught traffic on his final flyer through the last few corners; the booth pegged the clean version at roughly a second faster than Austin Hill, which would have buried everyone. “This car and team and driver may be the favorite to have a pretty good day,” Parker Kligerman said on the broadcast, before admitting he’d already picked Crews himself on the Money Lap. The 18-year-old has immense road-course speed every time out — at Watkins Glen, only a tire issue kept him from fighting Connor Zilisch and Jesse Love for the win.
He even logged recon laps in NASCAR’s electric car the night before, alongside Allgaier. At +160 he’s the deserved favorite; the only knock is the rookie variance baked into a 50-lap street race. 2.
Austin Hill — To Win (+650) The value, and the most experienced hand in the field. Hill led most of practice and settled third — while admitting he ran the early laps at about 60 percent. “Definitely slick — you can lose the front and rear evenly,” he said, sandbagging in plain sight.
He’s the rare double-duty driver here, racing the Cup car Sunday too, which means he banked a full extra practice session on a track nobody had seen — a genuine, measurable edge. 3. Sam Mayer — To Win (+850) Don’t let 13th fool you.
Mayer owns the best road-course résumé in this entire field — four career road-course wins, “the only one besides a full-time Cup guy to win on a road course in quite a while,” per the broadcast. Kligerman called him “one of the top three road racers in this series — I know firsthand, because he took about three of those wins from me.” He prepped by respawning each corner of the sim fifty times over, then ran practice well within himself, in back-to-back weeks with top equipment in the No. 41.
The board buries him; the track record says contender. 4. Jesse Love — To Win (+1100) The reigning champion, hiding in plain sight at eighth.
Love won this series’ title and just announced he’s moving up to Cup with the Wood Brothers next year — and he left no stone unturned this week, starting his sim prep three months ago and losing count of the hours. He’s already proven he can run up front on a road course: at Watkins Glen he was in the fight at the very end, alongside the names everyone’s chasing. RCR equipment, championship pedigree, and a real shot if qualifying puts him near the front.
The only question is whether the closing speed shows up on a track this brutal. 5. Austin Green — To Win (+3000) The longshot who topped the board.
Green threw down the lap of the day — a 2:15.5 the booth called “a statement lap,” seven tenths clear of Austin Hill on fresh tires. “I’m just losing overall rear grip… it feels hot, slick and greasy,” he said on the radio, and he was still fastest by a mile. He’s a genuine road-course ace, back in the 87 after sitting out Pocono, with Sonoma on deck next week.
The catch the market is pricing: he runs a limited schedule and, as the booth noted, he’s one of the good road racers here who “hasn’t won one yet.” Fastest in practice doesn’t pay — but at +3000, the fastest car on the property is worth a dart. Brent Crews is the fastest, most complete package on the board, and at +160 the market agrees. But this is a street course nobody had driven until yesterday, qualifying hasn’t even run, and the most accomplished road racers in the field spent practice hiding their hand.
Austin Hill led on 60 percent. Sam Mayer owns four road wins and ran 13th. Austin Green topped the sheet at 30-to-1.
With no Cup ringers to beat, the first checkered flag in O’Reilly history at Naval Base Coronado is there for any of these five to take.