The Southern California market is huge for NASCAR. Until 2023, the NASCAR Cup Series featured regularly on the 2-mile track in Fontan, but NASCAR sold the property for some $600 million with a promise of converting the track into a short-oval. While the original structure is in ruins, no progress has been made to revive the track. And NASCAR officials cited an update about the same, which wasn’t promising for those hoping for Fontana’s revival.
“That market is an important market for us. What the future of that particular facility is, I’m still unsure. It would be a short track because we don’t have room for anything else,” NASCAR commissioner Steve Phelps said on Hauler Talk podcast. Well, NASCAR did bring the Clash to the LA Coliseum, and even tried to steal the ownership of Long Beach Grand Prix from Roger Penske. It was evident, the Southern California market was crucial for NASCAR, but without Fontan or Long Beach, they had a big void. However, if we are to go by the latest updates, it seems like NASCAR has been planning their arrival in the region for some time now. And they have ambitious plans.
Street Racing in San Diego could be on the cards
The Athletic shared an update on X, stating, “NASCAR is working toward finalizing a deal to race on a street course next year in the San Diego area, sources tell @Jordan_Bianchi. The move would return its premier Cup Series to the Southern California market after a multi-year absence.”
Since 2023, NASCAR has been racing in the streets of Chicago, The Windy City allowed NASCAR to pull off this massive undertaking, and it was a proof of concept that Cup cars could race on streets. While the weather has spoiled the racing for the last two years, the primary objective which NASCAR set out with has been accomplished. This is the third and final year of the agreement between NASCAR and the City of Chicago, but with San Diego now in the mix, it looks like NASCAR has found its entry back in the Southern California market. The race in Windy City did generate $128 million revenue in 2024, but California opportuntiy is too good to pass up.
This shift was palpable after last year’s race when NASCAR COO Steve O’Donnell shared an update about continuing in Chicago beyond 2025. “NASCAR has a number of folks who are interested at looking at NASCAR from a street race [perspective]. We are certainly interested in California and the Southern California market, and that will continue to be a focus for us, but nothing to confirm at this point.”
NASCAR is working toward finalizing a deal to race on a street course next year in the San Diego area, sources tell @Jordan_Bianchi.
The move would return its premier Cup Series to the Southern California market after a multi-year absence.
Details https://t.co/snLB5qq3eq pic.twitter.com/UdHq5D37GS
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) June 18, 2025
Although nothing is official just yet, more updates regarding this development will drop next month, according to Jordan Bianchi’s report. If this happens, NASCAR would be racing in Southern California after 2023, a points-paying race. Not in a purpose-built racetrack, but in the streets of San Diego, which will attract a metropolitan crowd and new audiences. Unless and until NASCAR finalizes its plans to reconstruct the Auto Club Speedway, a street race in the city will allow NASCAR to make strides in its ongoing mission of taking the sport to new audiences, just like they did with the international race in Mexico.
However, this move isn’t as simple as it looks on paper. Remember how big of a reshuffle NASCAR had to make to its schedule just to add the Mexico race. So, how will they deal with this new change, given that they are committed to their international expansion?
Oval races cannot be slashed off the schedule
“We’re working on planning the 2026 calendar,” said Ben Kennedy after the Mexico race. “As I said, we really want to reconnect with our partners and talk about what the future could look like. We’ve learned a lot, a lot of great things happened this weekend. We held a worship service and met with fans to hear their reactions. We’re very hopeful that we’re shaping the future.”
Last time around when NASCAR announced its international plans, Richmond Raceway had to lose one of its date on the schedule. At a time when NASCAR has six road course/street course events, another addition might upset the fine balance they have right now. If it is a direct swap from Chicago to San Diego, it makes sense. But if NASCAR wants to have two street races and an international trip, they will have to either do away with Charlotte Roval or COTA. That is how things can unfold.
With the streaming partners like Amazon Prime Video now in the mix, NASCAR is more flexible and bold in it’s approach to try new things. Yet, the governing body needs to understand, taking out oval races from the schedule to fit an experimental venue could backfire on them. Five to six road plus street racing events is a sweet spot, or else they will have to expand the racing schedule to 39 races, which again adds more challenges for them.
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