The NASCAR schedule for the 2026 season is still being finalized, but the Chicago Street Race will not return next year. With an opening on the schedule and a desire to add another street course race, NASCAR is heading to San Diego next season, with a specific location already selected.
Kelly Crandall of Racer.com will race on the Coronado Naval Base in San Diego, California, in the summer of 2026. The official race plans are expected to be announced this week, marking NASCAR’s return to Southern California.
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The Athletic‘s Jordan Bianchi reported in June that NASCAR was working to finalize a deal for a street course race in the San Diego area next season. It would mark the return to Southern California after a multi-year absence, but league officials still needed to finalize details with the city.
Now, according to Crandall, NASCAR is poised to make the announcement official on Wednesday. The expectation is that the race will take the place of the Chicago Street Race in the summer, which has occurred on the Fourth of July weekend in the last three years.
Naval Base Coronado is based in Coronado, California, and is located right alongside the Pacific Ocean and San Diego Bay. It serves as one of the major naval bases in the United States, including use for Navy SEAL training.
A street course race at the Naval Coronado Base will require significant investment from the city. The first-ever Chicago Street Race cost the city at least $3.5 million, but costs dipped in the following years. NASCAR also paid the city approximately $2.5 million to help host the race in 2025 and the Chicago Street Race had a $128 million total economic impact in 2024.
While Chicago will not be involved with NASCAR racing in 2026, Bianchi said on Sunday night’s episode of The Teardown that racing could return to the streets of Chicago as early as 2027.
