NASCAR to race on Naval Base Coronado in San Diego in 2026
SAN DIEGO — NASCAR announced Wednesday they are taking their street race to Naval Base Coronado in San Diego in 2026.
The NASCAR Cup Series will take to Naval Base Coronado, June 21. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series will open the weekend with races June 20 and 21 respectively.
NASCAR is working with iRacing to develop the course layout and finalize it later this year. However, Ben Kennedy said the course will be three miles in length, possibly featuring at least one long straightaway and technical turns. The course will be entirely on the base, including on the tarmac. Fighter jets, the Pacific Ocean shoreline and the city skyline will dot the backdrop.
“We think bold and aggressively. An idea we had to race on a military base. We talked to many military bases but we wanted to have a presence back in southern California and we felt it was a great opportunity for our fans there,” said Ben Kennedy, the executive vice president and chief venue and racing innovations officer for NASCAR. “We talked with the Naval Base and I’m surprised we were able to keep things under the wraps. We’re excited to get started with things and the biggest spectacle in, I think, all of sports in 2026.”
The race is set for only 2026 to this point, according to Kennedy. However, they believe San Diego won’t be the only time NASCAR will race on a military base.
The NASCAR race in San Diego is on the third weekend of June in 2026, a weekend that saw NASCAR go to Mexico City in 2025. In 2026, that weekend will see the city in the thick of hosting FIFA World Cup matches. NASCAR is working with officials to come up with a date that won’t conflict.
“We don’t have anything to share on Mexico yet. We anticipate the schedule will be out in the next few weeks,” Kennedy said Wednesday.
San Diego will mark the first street race for the Craftsman Truck Series as only the Cup and Xfinity Series raced in Chicago from 2023 to 2025. San Diego will stand alone in 2026 as the Chicago Street Race won’t return.
While NASCAR has visited the Chicago and Mexico City metropolitan areas before their recent returns, they’ve never been to San Diego metro area before. In fact, it has been nearly 20 years since NASCAR entered a major metro area for the first time ever.
In 2007, NASCAR entered the Montreal metro area with the NASCAR Xfinity Series racing at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Six years before, in 2001, NASCAR entered the Kansas City metro area with Cup and Xfinity Series races christening Kansas Speedway.
Tickets will go on sale this fall. If you can’t make it to the race, the Cup race will be on Prime Video, the Xfinity race will be on The CW and the Truck race will be on Fox Sports 1.
Except for 2019, the NASCAR Cup Series has added a track to the schedule every year since 2018:
- 2018
- Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval
- 2020
- Daytona International Speedway road course
- 2021
- Bristol Dirt
- Circuit of the Americas
- Road America
- Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course
- Nashville Superspeedway
- 2022
- World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway
- Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
- 2023
- Chicago Street Race
- North Wilkesboro Speedway NASCAR All-Star Race
- 2024
- Iowa Speedway
- 2025
- Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium
- Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City
- 2026
- San Diego Street Race
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Cup, News, O'REILLY'S, Truck
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com
Wondering if there will be a car show display during Coronado’s NASCAR race too?
That is a good point! That could be a huge weekend for the San Diego Association of Car Clubs and a draw for car guys to get them to come to the race. NASCAR wants to connect with grassroots… that’s a great opportunity.