NASCAR’s race at Naval Base Coronado last weekend “could serve as a template for future events elsewhere,” with organizers also hoping to see the race “return in 2027 -- and possibly 2028,” according to Bill Center of the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. NASCAR COO Ben Kennedy, acknowledging there were glitches during the inaugural San Diego Weekend, called the first race ever in San Diego and on a military base a “tremendously successful event.” Kennedy said that “just more than 125,000 spectators attended the three days of racing.” Saturday and Sunday crowds were “capped at 50,000 over concerns about how the base, the Coronado Bridge and connecting streets could handle the traffic and the turnout.” For the most part, traffic “went smoother than expected.” Lines across the bridge “moved, if sometimes slowly.” However, there “were problems at the site.” On Saturday, lines were “longer than expected at concession stands and bathrooms,” and supplies of some necessities, like bottled water, also “ran low.” There were also “logjams around pedestrian bridges.” Kennedy said, “We were working in real time to continue to improve the fan experience.” Kennedy added that NASCAR is “already studying the possibility of making temporary permanent.” Most of the equipment brought into Naval Station Coronado -- grandstands, barriers, etc. -- was rented. Kennedy: “It might make more sense if we owned our equipment” (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 6/23).
OPENING A NEW DOOR: RACER’s Kelly Crandall wrote Chicago, where NASCAR has raced for the past three years, and San Diego “accomplished many things for the sport, most notably proving that NASCAR can create new racetracks and put them anywhere.” The latter also “puts racing in front of people who might not normally see it, and in areas that don’t have a racetrack or one that’s relatively close.” Crandall wrote San Diego “also had the cool factor.” There is “nothing that can compare to the feeling of being on an active military base and the sightlines that come with it.” NASCAR “doesn’t always feel or look cool, but it did and was over the weekend.” Crandall: “Coronado was different and challenging, and that’s never a bad thing to throw at a driver. It also seemed to be fun for them, as there hasn’t been a bad review to be found” (RACER, 6/23).
