San Diego is about to feel the need. The need for speed.
And race car driver Michael McDowell is planning to bring it in 2026 when NASCAR takes over Coronado for a special series of races called “NASCAR San Diego.”
“It’s going to be, you know, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” he said.
McDowell, who won the 2021 Daytona 500, visited San Diego Tuesday to promote next June’s race and meet with some of his sponsors at K1 Speed Indoor Go Karts in Barrio Logan.
Coronado was chosen for the event to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the U. S. Navy. The races will take place at Naval Air Station North Island.
The base was one of many San Diego area locations used in the shooting of Top Gun, the film in which star Tom Cruise uttered his iconic “speed” line.
NASCAR officials said San Diego was a natural locale for the extension of their efforts to expand interest in the sport, which has led to races in Chicago and Mexico City.
“One of the ideas that we had several years ago was to race on a military base,” said NASCAR Executive Vice President Ben Kennedy at a press conference last month announcing the event.
“We’ve had a number of conversations with bases across the country. We also wanted to find a way to have a presence back here in the Southern California market. We’ve had racing and auto club for a number of years at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum. We felt like it was a good opportunity for us to get back to our fans here in the greater Southern California region.”
McDowell has been racing competitively since the age of three, starting with BMX bicycles and moving on to karts, open wheel cars and stock cars. McDowell, now 40, is looking forward to competing in the NASCAR cup series race in Coronado, one of three races planned for the weekend.
“Like, we’ve never been on a Navy base before, so just the coolness of you know, just something super unique,” he said. “And obviously, the course layout will be very unique, because there’s nothing like it.”
The challenge will be in racing in a place not built for speeding cars.
“You’re gonna have some asphalt,” he said. “You’re gonna have some concrete. You’re gonna have some transitions. You’re gonna have some dips. You’re gonna have some, you know, drainage and water runoff and all those things. So, it’s not your typical racetrack.”
Officials are still figuring out the exact route of the race in San Diego. No matter the route, McDowell said the excitement will be felt beyond Coronado.
“Hopefully we’re able to, you know, generate new fans and have new opportunities to get in front of people that maybe haven’t experienced the sport before,” he said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
