NASCAR will return to San Diego to race at historic Naval Base Coronado next season, the sanctioning body announced Tuesday, shedding light on a long-term plan for future events at military installations on a rotation basis in 2028 and beyond.
The West Coast trip — slated for Aug. 1 on TNT Sports and the cornerstone event of NASCAR San Diego Weekend presented by Anduril — marks the second consecutive season the NASCAR Cup Series will race on the active military base, and the fifth time a street course is on the schedule in the modern era. The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series will also join, with the preliminary event planned for July 31 on The CW and the ESPN App.
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NASCAR Chief Operating Officer Ben Kennedy welcomed the unique event’s return next season, saying that the reception from Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth before this year’s race prompted talks with Kennedy, Julie Giese — NASCAR Vice President of Market Development & Strategic Scheduling — and their team about future activations on other military sites.
“He obviously loved the event, enjoyed the event and that helped spur conversations around what the future relationship might look like with them,” Kennedy said. “So we agreed in 2028 we’re going to go to another military installation as a part of a long-term plan as we think about rotating these not just to other parts of the military, but to other branches within the Department of War, and it’s been a really good collaborative conversation. Still remains to be seen where and what and when those other locations might look like, but the team and Julie have already been digging into a number of different markets that we feel like are priority markets for us to be in that we frankly don’t have a large presence in today, along with just iconic installations that everyone knows of. So, a lot of work to go on that front.”
Naval Base Coronado’s August date marks a shift from Father’s Day weekend, when the races were hosted on the 2026 calendar. The Cup Series main event will be featured as the championship round of the 2027 NASCAR In-Season Challenge, the third edition of the five-race, 32-driver midseason tournament.
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In conjunction with the U.S. Navy, NASCAR officials constructed the 16-turn, 3.4-mile Qualcomm Circuit, which Kennedy said would return largely unchanged for the 2027 running. That course layout weaved around the active Naval Base Coronado, featuring stunning views of downtown San Diego and the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier. Dubbed “Race the Base,” all three national series contested events in 2026 — a celebration for America 250, the country’s semiquincentennial anniversary.
Corey Heim broke out with his first career Cup Series victory in just 13 starts, just weeks before following up with a crown-jewel Brickyard 400 triumph. Austin Hill won the O’Reilly Series race — which marked Richard Childress Racing’s first since the death of Kyle Busch in May. Layne Riggs secured the victory in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, prevailing in overtime.
The Truck Series won’t return to San Diego in 2027 but will instead visit Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in September.
After a long tenure at Auto Club Speedway outside of Los Angeles, the trips to Naval Base Coronado and San Diego continue a key chapter in NASCAR’s, the military’s and the region’s history.
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Kennedy deemed the inaugural race “a tremendously successful event” in a post-race press conference back in June at San Diego, saying “we would love to return” for a second edition. “Sports bring people together,” he said. “It brings all walks of life together. It was really neat to see a lot of folks from the military, from the Navy, be a part of this weekend. It’s a great unifier for us. It feels authentically NASCAR.”
Kennedy said this week that the Coronado race’s leaders and organizers spent a day and a half at an offsite retreat in Charlotte, discussing what worked and what needed improvement for a potential return. An analysis of industry feedback, data and “a lot of learnings” will help to shape the next San Diego event, as it has with other recent trips to one-of-a-kind venues at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, a first trip to Mexico City and the evolution of the Chicago Street Race.
“Fans will expect some changes to the experience,” Kennedy said. “The course, for the most part, is going to stay intact, so we don’t expect any big changes related to that, but really focused on ingress, egress, concession stands, the viewpoints and perspectives for a lot of our fans that are sitting in the stands and continuing to improve that experience, and then as we talk about potentially going to other installations or other temporary courses in the future, we’ll at least have a good blueprint that we can then take and apply to other locations.”
One element that will return in 2027 is a Navy Community Night on July 30. Base access will be exclusive to U.S. Navy personnel and Coronado community members that day, which will feature O’Reilly Auto Parts Series practice and qualifying on track.
More details about the 2027 Naval Base Coronado race weekend will be revealed at a later date.
Contributing: Zack Albert