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NASCAR makes grand announcement of bringing race to San Diego Naval Base in 2026

ProfilePhotoby: Nick Geddes07/23/25NickGeddesNews
San Diego
Bryon Houlgrave/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK

NASCAR officially announced Wednesday it is bringing all three of its national series to Naval Base Coronado in San Diego in 2026. The street course races will be held Father’s Day weekend — June 19-21 — celebrating the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Navy.

The deal with Coronado Naval Base is for one year, per Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports. NASCAR, however, will look at other military bases to potentially run at.

The event in San Diego will be NASCAR’s first points race in Southern California since 2023. It is replacing the Chicago Street Race on the 2026 schedule, which has been held on the July 4 weekend each of the last three seasons. NASCAR has yet to announce where they will race on the July 4 weekend next season.

An official circuit layout won’t be finalized until the fall, though it is “expected to wind its way past both aircraft carriers and fighter jets as cars race on the tarmac,” via The Athletic. The course will be roughly three miles, Pockrass noted.

NASCAR returning to Southern California with San Diego street race

“Part of the course will be a bit set in stone, because we can’t move many of the streets around,” said Ben Kennedy, NASCAR’s executive vice president and chief venue and racing innovation officer. “But part of it will also be a blank canvas. Once we go out on the tarmac, whether it’s hairpins or chicanes or S turns or long straightaways, we’re playing with a handful of configurations. … I would expect it to look unlike anything they’ve had in the past around the base.”

The races will be open to the public, despite taking place on a military base. Kennedy said NASCAR is expecting “tens of thousands” fans to attend.

“The great part about it is the base has plenty of space to use, and the course will be pretty sizable, too,” Kennedy said. “We’ll have grandstands and suites and hospitality areas. But we’ll also be selling more of a general admission ticket, which will probably have a lot of volume. So we would expect quite a few people to be attending this event.”