CORONADO NAVAL BASE - SAN DIEGO CA
For America's 250th birthday, NASCAR raced at San Diego on the Coronado Naval Base. It also marked the 250th birthday of the US Navy. The announcement that all three of NASCAR's series would be racing there came in July of 2025, with the course lay-out being revealed in October. It would be the first active military base to host a NASCAR race. The race was just signed for a one year deal, so it was not known if NASCAR would return in 2027. It marked the first return of a NASCAR points race to Southern California since the last race was held at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana CA,; a 2-mile oval 120 miles north of San Diego, back in 2022. The track was revealed to be
a 16-turn, 3.4 mile street circuit that mixed in high speed action with breathtaking views. It’s more than a bit odd for heavy stock cars to be running side-by-side with an aircraft carrier and other heavy-duty naval hardware as part of the landscape. The track featured a quick right-hand turn after the start/finish Line, before two quick 90-degree left-handers launch competitors on a high-octane journey around the San Diego Bay and one of the world’s foremost military installations. Some of the course highlights included: The Ellyson Start/Finish Line: Named in honor of Commander Theodore Ellyson, Naval Aviator Number One. His training at North Island laid the foundation for its commissioning as a naval air station in 1917 and eventual recognition as the “Birthplace of Naval Aviation.”; Turn 5, Carrier Corner: This sharp left-hand turn is located between the docking location of two aircraft carriers. Turn 8, Coronado Chicane: This begins a series of turns that will provide drivers with a steep challenge as they speed toward the interior of the base. Turn 14, Runway Road: Aptly named, given it is located near the north end of Runway 18/36 at Halsey Field. The track provided differing grip levels where some places there was ultra smooth runway concrete only to transition into bumpy low-grip asphalt. Also of concern were downhill braking zones, and drivers unfamiliar with the track layout. On June 17th, the first NASCAR race took place with the Truck series hitting the track to run 50 laps in the "Navy Forged By The Sea 250". Popular names who returned to competition to run the race included Jimmie Johnson, Brendan Gaughan, and Jamie McMurray.
Saturday the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series tackle the tricky track as they ran 60 laps in the "Driven To Serve 250".
Sunday saw the weekend come to close as the Cup stars lined up to battle each other and challenge the unfamiliar track. The field's work would be cut out for them as they would have to see if they could beat Australian Supercar Series Champion Shane van Gisbergen; who had been absolutely dominant on street and road courses ever since running his first NASCAR Cup race at Chicago in 2023. He had seven wins, all on road/street courses. Another great road racer entered was Kevin Magnussen; and like van Gisbergen, he was driving for Trackhouse Racing. Also entered was Corey Heim and Jimmie Johnson