By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com Motorsports Editor
A NASCAR race in San Diego?
It could happen, according to one source.
RACER, one of the most respected sources in all of auto racing, has confirmed what has been a rumor floating around auto racing circles for close to a year: NASCAR will run a race in San Diego.”
Details are lacking, but this would be a major sporting and social event for the city.
“RACER has learned a deal has been reached for NASCAR to return to Southern California next year, and the announcement of the event could come as soon as next week” the publication stated in an on-line article. “San Diego has been a rumored destination of the sport for the last few months, and RACER noted last week that Coronado has recently floated as the potential destination.”
Last August, Sports Business Journal reported that America’s Finest Cities was one of the possibilities for NASCAR expansion. Other potential cities are Cincinnati, Baltimore, Pittsburgh and some from the Pacific Northwest. Amazon, one of NASCAR’s new media rights partners, is based in Seattle.
Primarily an oval racing series, NASCAR has one street race on its schedule, in Chicago. Sports Business Journal also stated that the series tried to buy a stake in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, which in 2025 celebrated its 50th anniversary (it is an INDYCAR event with several support races). The Grand Prix Assocation of Long Beach is owned by Penske Corporation.
It would not be the first time auto racing has taken place to San Diego. In the 80s to the early 90s, IMSA’s sports cars raced around the Del Mar horse race fairgrounds. The paddock area was in the stables. It was highly successful and was put on by the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach, masters of street races.
One year, the president and founder of the organization, Chris Pook, showed the media a model scale of an IndyCar race he was conceiving to run along Harbor Drive and through the Gaslamp Quarter. It ultimately did not happen because the city never really got behind it and elderly people in the area opposed it.
But it was there for the taking and had it happened, it would have been awseome.
Imagine the excitement that would have brought to the Gaslamp Quarter. That was before Petco Park and a lot of the hospitality groups began taking over the area’s restaurants and bars. The cars would have been going under the Gaslamp sign, up Fifth Ave. and hitting about 180 mph along Harbor Drive in front of the Convention Center.
It would have been another Comic-Con.
Perhaps NASCAR is planning a similar track. Perhaps having it a little further north so it incorporates the bayfront. Having it out of a main business area, such as around Snapdragon Stadium, would hardly generate the kind of excitement it would if it were downtown.
The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach is proof that having an auto race on city streets works. Done right, NASCAR could have a very successful event in San Diego.
Kevin Wilkerson is an award-winning sports journalist who has been involved in several racing series’ including IndyCar, IMSA and sports cars. He is publisher of PubClub.com.
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