CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NASCAR will hold a street race on Naval Base Coronado in Southern California next June as a replacement for the Cup Series event held in downtown Chicago for three years.
The move to the San Diego area does not eliminate a return for the top-tier Cup Series to Chicago, where NASCAR will still maintain an office and effort an eventual return, perhaps as early as 2027. Shane Van Gisbergen won the inaugural Chicago street race in 2023 as well as the third edition earlier this month — both times in a Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet — while Alex Bowman won the 2024 event.
The shift next year will allow NASCAR to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Navy by hosting all three of its national series over a three-day weekend on June 19-21. The Cup Series will take the track for the main event after races for the third-tier Truck Series and the second-tier Xfinity Series.
“As part of our nation’s 250th anniversary, we are honored for NASCAR to join the celebration as we host our first street race at a military base, Naval Base Coronado,” Ben Kennedy, executive vice president and chief venue and racing innovations officer for NASCAR, said Wednesday via a news release. “NASCAR San Diego Weekend will honor the Navy’s history and the men and women who serve as we take the best motorsports in the world to the streets of Naval Base Coronado.”
It will be the second exclusively street venue in NASCAR history — Chicago was the first — and first on an active military base. The course layout is not set, but it is expected to be close to three miles.