NASCAR Could Replace Chicago With A San Diego Street Race Come 2026 – Reports

NASCAR Could Replace Chicago With A San Diego Street Race Come 2026 - Reports

NASCAR lifted the covers on its 2025 Cup Series schedule this week and confirmed the multiple groundbreaking changes that have been rumored for a long time now. The field will travel beyond international waters for a points-paying race, the Daytona summer race will end the regular season, the Clash will be held at the Bowman Gray Stadium, and so on. But the wheel doesn’t stop spinning here.

Industry insiders have been reporting that officials are in search of more venues to hold street course races similar to the one in Chicago. A prime candidate that’s being considered for 2026 is San Diego. The South Californian city would be an apt destination due to the reason that the market surrounding the region has been left untapped since the downfall of the Auto Club Speedway.

The two-mile superspeedway was sold for a price of $544 million in 2023. The deal included the 433 acres of land on which the track sat but NASCAR retained about 90 acres on the property. Word was that the promotion would be developing a short track on this stretch and bringing it back into the schedule. This plan is still alive according to Ben Kennedy, the Executive Vice President of NASCAR.

The final decision could potentially have to be made between a street race and a short track race. The current contract with Chicago is ending in 2025. With how well-received street races have been, it would be detrimental to not have one on the schedule. So, could 2026 feature two races in San Diego? What’s brewing in the headquarters at Daytona is still a hazy cloud.

NASCAR reiterates its intention with the Auto Club Speedway

The track in Fontana has mostly been demolished as time stands. However, the front stretch of the facility could be the root upon which NASCAR rebuilds the proposed short track. Kennedy said, as reported by sportsnaut.com, “Our goal is really to be in southern California long-term. We’ve continued to work on our plans for Fontana.”

“We have a number of different configurations and variations the team has been working on for what that track might look like and what is kind of the other activities that could happen on that parcel of land that we have there. But [we are] also exploring all of our opportunities in the southern California market.”

The South Californian market is a huge hunting ground for NASCAR considering the size of the fanbase it enjoys there. It also happens to be the home of Fox Sports. In all possibilities, the premier-tier field will return to race there in 2026.

Post Edited By: Srijan Mandal
Ben Kennedy

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Gowtham Ramalingam

Gowtham is a NASCAR journalist at The SportsRush. Though his affinity for racing stems from Formula 1, he found himself drawn to NASCAR's unparalleled excitement over the years. As a result he has shared his insights and observations by authoring over 3000 articles on the sport. An avid fiction writer, you can find him lost in imaginary worlds when he is not immersed in racing. He hopes to continue savoring the thrill of every lap and race together with his readers for as long as he can.

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