San Diego was the ultimate ‘What If’ that NASCAR brought onto itself. Nobody in their right mind ever thought that the sport would race at an active military base. Yet, the audience spent the past weekend watching stock cars race around the Coronado Naval Base. And now, NASCAR is already eager to return to San Diego next year.

“What I can tell you is that we feel like this is a tremendously successful event. Obviously, we want to be respectful that this is an active military base at the same time,” NASCAR COO Ben Kennedy said in a post-race media interaction.

“So this was a great partnership, a great pairing of the 250th anniversary of the United States Navy and the 250th anniversary of the United States of America; you couldn’t ask for a better time than this. We would love to return. We are also cognizant of the fact that this is an active military base, and we want to be mindful of that as well.”

In terms of logistics, San Diego was a completely new challenge for NASCAR. From welding manhole covers to the specialized mill-and-pave operations, NASCAR did it all for this race. Despite all that, the officials faced multiple difficulties throughout the weekend – from the concrete barriers taking too long to repair to the multiple crashes causing longer delays.

NASCAR admitted that the last time they had to go through such a situation was when they decided to host the Chicago Street Race for the first time, which was also the sport’s first appearance on street courses.

At first, the weekend looked like a complete disaster, as the community held little trust in the ambition. But in its next iterations, NASCAR was able to turn things around in its favor. The result? Now, NASCAR and city officials are reportedly nearing an agreement to bring the downtown street race back to Chicago next year.

That said, the San Diego street race at the Coronado Naval Base did not fall short of entertainment, thanks to unpredictable yet welcome outcomes. And the numbers align with NASCAR’s ambitions to enter the Southern California market and introduce the sport to a newer audience to increase its influence

More than 125,000 fans attended the race weekend in person across the three days. More importantly, these fans came from all 50 states and 17 countries, with 67% of the demographic attending a NASCAR race for the very first time. The race also had 11% more female audience members and three times the Hispanic attendees compared to a regular NASCAR race.

So, on paper, it seems like the tag of an ‘active military installation’ is the only thing that could stop NASCAR from racing at San Diego year after year. Kennedy further revealed that NASCAR has not yet begun discussions with the United States Navy.

“What we are going to do after this weekend is have a deep dive, an after-action review with our entire team. We’re also going to sit down with the United States Navy and talk to them. ‘Hey, what did we learn? What went well?…’

“Sit down with them, have a debrief, then have a conversation about, ‘Hey, is there an opportunity for us to return here?’ Nothing to report today. A lot more conversations we will have after this weekend.”

But if NASCAR does return on the circuit, then it appears to have the best date in mind.

San Diego’s future race might just have the best date

What’s better than racing at a military installation for a grand weekend? The answer is simple. Racing at a military installation on July 4th. Luckily for NASCAR, they might not need to wait long for this opportunity to come around. July 4th will fall on a Sunday next year. It gives NASCAR the ultimate idea for an Independence Day-themed weekend.

The only issue that arises is that the city hosts a parade and multiple events in downtown Coronado. The day is a big deal for local civilians, and NASCAR would want to tread lightly around their sentiments. Chicago offers a cautionary tale, as several local people had complained about business losses, which led to negative local publicity, and it took two years to fix that.

“We know a lot of big conferences come to San Diego. We don’t want to be up against any of that,” Amy Lupo, the president of NASCAR San Diego, said. “We want to be able to get people into hotel rooms and help San Diego, Coronado, and the Navy. This year, our stars aligned with the Padres being out of town.”

For now, NASCAR and Navy officials are expected to debrief and discuss future events. They already had to face a sour situation on Saturday. The NCIS had to step in to detain a man who illegally got on the track while the race was red-flagged. He was under the influence, but San Diego, being a military installation, could not accept such actions, and the person ended up facing federal charges.