Kevin Harvick Declares Shane van Gisbergen Will Be Unbeatable at San Diego

The NASCAR garage is at Naval Base Coronado in San Diego for the maiden road course race at the iconic venue, replacing the Mexico City Street Race of 2025 which replaced the Chicago race. It’s one of NASCAR’s most ambitious projects, and according to many there is only one overwhelming favorite to win the event.

On the lates episode of his podcast, ex-champion Kevin Harvick predicted a Shane van Gisbergen win on Sunday. He won the last two NASCAR road course debut races with Trackhouse Racing and no one expect him to perform bad, considering his superior RC race skill-set compared to the rest of the garage.

I’m picking (Shane van Gisbergen). I mean I don’t know who else, I don’t even know who else you would pick.

Kevin Harvick said on his podcast.

Kaitlyn Vincie, the co-host of the podcast also went with the Kiwi Shane van Gisbergen. She made the correct prediction of a Denny Hamlin three-peat last Sunday at Pocono and chose SVG because she wants the streak to continue. While Tyler Reddick and Daniel Suarez can offer a challenge, they won’t be able match the pace pf the three times Supercars champion under normal conditions.

I’m going with the same, what say you? Because we want to win, as Kevin always says.

Kaitlyn Vincie asserted on Happy Hour podcast.

Kevin Harvick’s co-host Mamba Smith picked Ty Gibbs to win at San Diego

The third host of the podcast Mamba Smith, who is known for making wild choices refused to back Kevin Harvick’s pick and predicted a Ty Gibbs win.  While the No:54 Toyota driver is good in road courses, he isn’t as good as the regular front runners. The only advantage he has is pace superiority TRD cars have in the 2026 season.  

You know what? You know what? Screw it. Because if you want to win, if you want to be a big boy you’ve got to jump in the big boy water. So, I’m going to do that. Let’s go with Ty Gibbs. Let’s go with Ty Gibbs.

Mamba Smith said.

Responding to Smith picking Joe Gibbs’ grandson, Kaitlyn Vincie asserted that it is a good pick, while Kevin Harvick smirked, mocking his co-host. In response, he doubled down on his claim, asserting while his driver is not a top pick, he is still a solid choice.

KV: I don’t think that’s a bad pick.

MS: It’s not a bad pick. It’s just like there’s the top pick and then all the other picks are down here. But it’s not a bad pick.

Mamba Smith responded to Kaitlyn Vincie.

If the race plays out normal without any major wrecks, Shane van Gisbergen is going to win the race with a massive lead. The only way his rivals can win is by racing him aggressive and force him to make mistake that would significantly affect his race, but it won’t be easy.

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