By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service

All eyes on San Diego as NASCAR launches inaugural street race weekend

SAN DIEGO – From oceanside events atop famous aircraft carriers to drivers taking in the world-renowned San Diego Zoo, NASCAR’s debut in Southern California is the talk of the town.

CORONADO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 09: A general view of construction workers installing fencing to the top of concrete barriers for the NASCAR San Diego course at the Naval Base Coronado on June 09, 2026 in Coronado, California. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images)

The community has gone all-out to welcome race teams to San Diego for the weekend’s inaugural three-race event around the 3.4-mile street course on Naval Base Coronado – capped with the NASCAR Cup Series’ Anduril 250 on Sunday (4 p.m. ET on Prime Video, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

The locals are eager to host the sport and drivers and teams have embraced the new opportunity. Now to race.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin shows up in California on an unprecedented career hot streak winning his third race in a row – from pole position – last week at Pocono (Pa) Raceway to cut 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick’s one-time hundred-point plus championship lead to only 19-points.

The 16-turn never-raced San Diego street course, however, may prove to be a true equalizer for the field.

Hamlin’s win at the traditional Watkins Glen, N.Y. road course 10 years ago is his only NASCAR Cup Series win on a road course. Reddick has four road course wins and his 9.88 average finish is third best among the field. He, Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell lead active drivers with 11 top-five road course finishes.

Only Trackhouse Racing’s Shane Van Gisbergen (418) has led more road course laps than Reddick (267) in the Next Gen Era. And Reddick’s 7.13 is the second best average finish to Van Gisbergen’s incredible mark (1.75). Reddick’s streak of six top-10 finishes is second only to Van Gisbergen’s 10.

CORONADO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 09: NASCAR Cup Series driver, Shane Van Gisbergen drives the NASCAR San Diego course simulator (SIM) at the Naval Base Coronado on June 09, 2026 in Coronado, California. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images)

As good as they’ve been all season, however, both Hamlin and Reddick – as well as the entire starting field – realize the weekend storyline will likely come down to who can beat Van Gisbergen. He and Elliott are tied for most road course wins among active drivers with seven each. Elliott’s 489 laps led (seventh most) and Van Gisbergen’s 418 laps led (10th most) already place them among the top-10 in history in that category.

The New Zealander and former Australian Supercar Series champion Van Gisbergen has been absolutely dominant on street and road courses and is particularly good at first-time stops on the circuit – claiming trophies at both the inaugural Chicago Street Course and at Mexico City’s famed Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.

The driver of the No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet is currently turning in his most productive NASCAR Cup Series season on the ovals too and has positioned himself inside the top-16 in the standings. A victory could be significant for him as he’s ranked 14th – only 10 points above the cutoff line of drivers that will eventually advance to The Chase to settle the title.

There’s a lot on the line for Van Gisbergen – and the field – and this week’s San Diego event brings a particularly high-profile chance to hoist a trophy. And Van Gisbergen’s statistics in this brand of competition are astounding. He’s won half the road course races he’s entered in the series – seven of 14 – and his average finish of 6.71 on road courses is second best all time among drivers with at least four starts, behind only NASCAR Hall of Famer Fireball Roberts (2.78).

This weekend, Van Gisbergen can become the first driver to claim his first eight NASCAR Cup Series wins all on road courses. He’s run inside the top-10 for 95 percent of the laps run on road courses since 2025 and he owns four of the five largest margins of victory in the series’ Next Gen car era.

CORONADO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 09: NASCAR Cup Series driver, Shane Van Gisbergen takes a selfie with U.S. Navy service members at the Naval Base Coronado on June 09, 2026 in Coronado, California. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images)

“I only saw a little bit of the layout, but it was really cool,” Van Gisbergen said of a recent visit to the Naval Base Coronado track. “It’s going to be a really rough and technical course, a lot of unknowns. Thursday will be an important day, when we get on-site and can have a look around the track, get a feel for everything.”

“The surface changes stood out to me the most. Some of it’s really nice, there is new tarmac there in Turn 2, and a couple of other places. Then, it’s really rough like Sebring (International Raceway), kind of with the big cracks and old asphalt. It’s going to be a real challenge to have a car that works all kind of surfaces and transitions to them.”

It’s odd but that makes it a really good challenge,” he continued. “Getting in a rhythm will be really tough but will be important.”

Of note, San Diego native, seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson will steer his Legacy Motor Club team’s No. 84 Toyota in his “hometown” race. Trackhouse Racing will field the No. 91 Chevrolet for former Formula One star Kevin Magnussen in its Project 91 entry and former NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series champion Corey Heim will drive the No. 67 Toyota for 23XI Racing.

NASCAR Cup Series opening practice is Friday at 5 p.m. ET (Prime Video, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Busch Light Pole Qualifying is set for Saturday at 2:30 p.m. ET (Prime Video, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

San Diego Street Course awaits O’Reilly Auto Parts Series stars

Last week’s near-miss victory at a Pocono Raceway for Haas Factory Team’s Sam Mayer was disappointing in the competitive moment, but all the more motivation for the most successful road course driver in the field as the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series arrives at Naval Base Coronado for Saturday’s first ever United Rentals Driven to Serve 250 (5 p.m. ET on the CW, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

The 3.4-mile, 16-turn course on the active Naval Base may be just what Mayer, 22, needs to get back into the win column for the first since the Wisconsin-native won at Iowa last August.

After back-to-back multi-win seasons in 2023 and 2024, Mayer had just that single victory last year. However, he always shows up to turn right and left feeling optimistic. Half of his eight career series wins have come on road courses – the four victories most among those entered this weekend.

He knows he’ll have to contend with his former JR Motorsports team – again – for the trophy, however. JR Motorsports drivers have won every road course race since Watkins Glen, in September, 2024 – an 11-race winning streak. Mayer was a part of that run with his former team, claiming his last road course win at the Charlotte ROVAL in October, 2024. However, 14 of the last 15 road course race winners are not competing in San Diego.

Mayer’s former JR Motorsports teammate, championship leader Justin Allgaier has three road course wins and it was he, who Mayer battled for the trophy last week in the closing laps at Pocono. It’s a very reasonable bet this weekend’s California trophy could come down to another duel between the two.

Allgaier, who collected his series-best fifth win at Pocono, has already secured a berth in The Chase with seven regular season races remaining. The 2024 series champ holds an unprecedented 250-point lead over reigning series champion, Richard Childress Racing’s Jesse Love atop the championship standings – a points-margin greater than second place to 15th place.

Qualifying has proven to be crucial on road courses with the winner starting on the front row an amazing 52 percent of the time. The polesitter has won 31 percent of those races.

The pass for the win, however, has come within the final five laps in five of the last seven road course events. Through the opening 17 races of this season, there has not been an overtime finish – the longest such streak in series history.

Of note, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Brandon Jones is on an eight-race streak of top-10 finishes – best in the series – while conversely, Love’s streak of 30 races running at the finish ended abruptly last week at Pocono with a lap-one wreck.

Jeremy Clements will make his 548th series start this weekend – setting an all-time record. The driver of his family-owned Jeremy Clements Racing team made his series debut at Pikes Peak, Col. in 2003.

Practice on the new course is set for Friday at 3:30 p.m. ET (CW App), followed by Kennametal Pole Qualifying at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday (The CW).

Johnson, McMurray among big names for San Diego CRAFTSMAN Truck Series showdown

The NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series returns to action after an off-weekend with Friday’s Navy 250 (7 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) getting the first NASCAR green flag on the San Diego Street Course weekend

For the first time in his career, Front Row Motorsports driver Layne Riggs is leading the championship standings – up 26 points on TRICON Garage driver Kaden Honeycutt after winning two of the last three races. Riggs’ Front Row Motorsports teammate Chandler Smith is third, 90 points off Riggs pace.

It’s reasonable to expect the weekend trophy to be settled by these title favorites. Riggs won the season’s first road course – and series’ first ever street course – at  St. Petersburg in March and Honeycutt won the most recent one – at Watkins Glen, N.Y. in May.

Five drivers in the field have won at road courses – also including former series champ Ben Rhodes, Justin Haley and Parker Kligerman. It’s McAnally-Hilgemann Racing’s Daniel Hemric (5.86) that boasts the best average finish in the field on road courses.

Six races remain to set the 10-drive Chase field and the battle for the final spots is close with eighth place Tyler Ankrum only 14 points up on 11th place Stewart Friesen, who has the same number of points as ninth place Hemric and 10th place Jake Garcia – the points based on finishes.

Not only is this weekend a big chapter for the sport in terms of locale – but Friday’s truck race will feature four of the sport’s very best in rare appearances on the grid.

Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and NASCAR Hall of Famer Jimmie Johnson will make his first Truck Series start in 17 years – the San Diego native driving the No. 1 TRICON Garage Toyota in front of the hometown fans. Fellow Californian, Trackhouse Racing team owner Justin Marks will make his first series start since 2022 in the Spire Motorsports No. 77 Chevrolet.

Popular former full-timer, Brendon Gaughan who last raced in the series in 2013  will steer the No. 20 Chevrolet for the McAnally-Hilgemann. And NASCAR on Fox commentator and 2010 Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray will make his first series start since 2008. He’ll drive Kaulig Racing’s No. 25 Ram truck, which has featured a list of all-star drives this season. So far, the best finish for the No. 25 belongs to NASCAR Cup Series regular A.J. Allmendinger, who finished sixth at Watkins Glen.

Back to back practice sessions for the Truck Series open the weekend on track Friday at Noon ET and 1 p.m. ET followed immediately by Kennametal Pole Qualifying at 2 p.m. ET – all three sessions on FS2 – and the race at 7 p.m. ET (FS1).