Following this year’s successful race weekend at Naval Base Coronado, the Department of War has committed to a long-term relationship that will bring NASCAR to new military facilities across the country.
NASCAR is returning to San Diego in 2027, but said that in 2028 it and the Department of War “intend to take the military-base street race to a different U.S. military installation, expanding the opportunity to celebrate and connect with service members, military families and communities across the country.”
Exactly which military installation has not yet been decided, or at least not publicly announced. The San Diego race was held partly to help celebrate America’s 250th birthday, but also to serve the Southern California market, which no longer has a permanent race facility. Since it’s likely NASCAR will be looking for another white space on the map in 2028, we have a few ideas.
JOINT BASE ANDREWS
The overwhelmingly successful IndyCar Freedom 250 Grand Prix proved that there’s an appetite for racing in the nation’s capital, and U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins, a Georgia native, told Fox News, “I’m an old Southern boy. I’m a NASCAR boy. It’s time to bring NASCAR to D.C.”
While the simple move would be to share a weekend with IndyCar, as the two series do at Phoenix Raceway, a return to the downtown circuit has not yet been confirmed, but Joint Base Andrews is just 15 miles away and has plenty of runways and access roads, like Naval Base Coronado. It’s also the home of the 747s used as Air Force One and was where it and most of the jets that participated in the Freedom 250 Grand Prix’s flyovers took off from.
Dover Motor Speedway and Richmond Raceway are both about two hours away, but the spectacle of another D.C. area race is hard to ignore.
That said, stock cars did race on the streets of D.C. this year, as the IROC series put on a show in vintage Pontiac Trans Ams with racing legends behind the wheels.
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY
NASCAR has been talking about returning to Colorado, where it last raced at Pikes Peak International Raceway in 2005 with the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and Truck Series, and Colorado Springs presents an interesting opportunity.
It’s closer to Denver than the track and is home to the U.S. Air Force Academy, which has an expansive airfield, along with the U.S. Army’s Fort Carson and the Peterson Space Force Base.
One challenge for the teams is that the thin mile-high air means the engines would lose about 18% of their power and also a lot of aerodynamic downforce, but maybe they can get a few tips on how to deal with it from the academy’s motor pool.
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD
While the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series visited Portland International Raceway from 2022-2025, the Cup Series has never visited the Pacific Northwest, and the only NASCAR national series races ever held in Washington was when the Truck Series visited the Evergreen Speedway short track in Monroe from 1995-2000.
Joint Base Lewis-McChord south of Tacoma is one of the nation’s largest military facilities and has an expansive airfield to set up a track. However, NASCAR would have to bring plenty of rain tires, as the area sees some precipitation nearly half the days of the year.
