NASCAR has confirmed a race for San Diego as part of its 2026 schedule and it will take place on Coronado.
Calling it the “Race on the Base” it will take place on the North Island Naval Air Station (NAS), the U.S. Navy’s military base. The dates are June 19-21. It will honor the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Navy. NASCAR officials and a few drivers on were on the naval base on July 23.
“Watch as drivers Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, William Byron, Chase Briscoe, Noah Gragson and Carson Hocevar ‘get recruited’ for a first-of-its-kind street course in 2026,” the sanctioning body placed on its website.
Apparently, NASCAR feels the need for speed in San Diego.
The idea of racing on a military base has been floating around the NASCAR scheduling committee for several years. “We felt it was such a good location for us,” said NASCAR Executive Vice President Ben Kenned. “We’ve been working on this for the better part of two years.”
Details have to be worked out as to exactly where on North Island it would take place, tho the most likely spot is on the airfield. Also, questions remain about access to the public since it is a military base with restricted access and ticket sales and prices.
This would be the first NASCAR race ever in San Diego, although several years ago the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach explored the possibility of hosting an IndyCar race through the downtown streets of the Gaslamp Quarter. In the late 1980s and early to mid-1990s, there was a sports car race held at the Del Mar Fairgrounds.
NASCAR has not had a regular race in Southern California since the closing of California Speedway in Fontana in 2023, although it did hold a pair of races inside the LA Coliseum, an event that was noted as much for its continual stoppages due to crashes on the very short oval as it was for its ingenuity.. The series’ only regular race in the state is the road course at Sonoma Raceway in Northern California.
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