Two years ago, NASCAR assigned Ben Kennedy the task of addressing two items on the stock car racing wish list — adding a Southern California race and staging a race on a military base. Kennedy, the great-grandson of NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. and NASCAR’s chief venue and racing innovation officer, found the answer to both needs with one site.

NASCAR announced Wednesday that the sport will race in San Diego, Calif. in 2026 with a new street course race weekend at Naval Base Coronado. NASCAR's San Diego Weekend, set for June 19-21 of next year, will be the first NASCAR event on an active military base and feature the NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series and Craftsman Truck Series.

NASCAR will hold a street race on Naval Base Coronado in Southern California next June as a replacement for its downtown Chicago event that ran the last three years