Johnson’s Interest In NASCAR’s San Diego Street Race Is Off The Charts
Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images
By Dennis Krause
Jimmie Johnson never thought he’d see the day. But what never seemed possible is about to become a reality.
With the Chicago Street Race off the schedule for 2026, NASCAR has confirmed it will run on the streets and tarmac of San Diego’s Naval Base Coronado Father’s Day weekend next June.
When Johnson got wind of the plans, the co-owner of Legacy Motor Club, seven-time Cup Series champion and 2024 Hall of Fame Inductee couldn’t believe that NASCAR was actually heading to his hometown.
“When I was approached, it was much more of a “This is what we’re doing” conversation versus “What do you think?”
“To a San Diegan, to hear those words, just smiling, like no way, this really can happen.
From everyone at NASCAR and their vision of growth, vision of being in Southern California doing something unique and different, credit to everybody at NASCAR for putting this together and being so adamant in San Diego being the destination and where the street circuit needs to go.
“Yeah, this is really exciting,” Johnson said. “I honestly didn’t think that NASCAR would ever be able to race in San Diego. Growing up in El Cajon, watching it develop and change so much, watching El Cajon Speedway sadly go away, it’s just a reality or thought of NASCAR in a traditional sense on an oval in San Diego, it just never seemed possible.
“When Chicago came on the schedule, I was like, Hmm, what other cities might be able to host a NASCAR event. Not long after, I learned there was some interest in and around San Diego.
“To see this all come together now, I’m so excited to have a race in my hometown.”
While most of Johnson’s time these days is spent in the front office at Legacy Motor Club, he does still race sporadically. And a Cup Series race in his hometown has him interested in being a part of it.
“Definitely intrigues me. Obviously, it’s new news. But the desire to race in my hometown is off the charts. I will aggressively work on being in the event. If for some reason I’m not able to pull that off, I will absolutely be there and help support Legacy Motor Club, all of our partners, NASCAR, the city.
“We’re also coming up on our 20th anniversary for the Jimmie Johnson foundation, which will be next year. I see a really neat opportunity for me to come home and really be a part of the festivities in this the event.”
According to NASCAR executive vice-president, chief venue and innovation officer, Ben Kennedy, the final course configuration isn’t complete yet, but he expects it to be about three miles length, weaving through the base as well as out on the tarmac with aircraft carriers and F-18’s as part of the backdrop.
Johnson’s confident the course will have good passing zones and put on a good show.
“Yeah, I don’t know what they’re working with. It’s tough to tell. It’s really hard just to kind of shoot in the dark on it.
“But with Chicago and our group, NASCAR group, having some experience building a track that creates good passing zones and opportunities to put on a good show, I feel like we’re going to be in a good place and have a really solid circuit to compete on.
With so many cars, you’d assume we’d have a full-field of 40 at this event. Pit road is going to be a major priority, to have enough space to pit all the cars.
“You’ve seen INDYCAR recently in Michigan, they had a split (pit) lane to accommodate. I don’t know all the challenges they’re going to face with the location. I’m highly confident we’re going to have an incredible venue, incredible backdrop and great racing.”
From his own brief experience street racing in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES a few years ago, Johnson knows it’s very specialized and even great drivers sometimes have difficulty adjusting to it.
“The way the track evolves, the way it’s so compressed and the consequences are so high, it requires great accuracy.
“If you don’t have a lot of experience in these concrete environments where you can’t just hang a tire in the grass and save it, you hang a tire, you smash the wall, break toe links, car is destroyed, you’re out of the race.
“Being in that kind of repetition on a road course, we typically don’t have a lot of experience doing it. When you look at SVG (Shane van Gisbergen) and his experience, that series (V8 Supercars) does a lot of that racing. He’s extremely comfortable with it on top of an entire lifetime of racing on road, street courses. It certainly swings his way. A lot of it is just that razor-sharp edge of finding the performance and not making a mistake. It really just requires a lot of the drivers.”
As Johnson’s responsibilities grow with Legacy Motor Club as it looks to acquire a third charter and expand to a three-car team, could the San Diego hometown race be the perfect way for the 49-year-old to finish his Cup Series career?
“You know, it hasn’t crossed my mind,” Johnson replied. “I want to respond with no. But who knows. We’ll have to do some planning over the off-season.
“I want to keep going. I want to stay in a car. I think it’s good for us. We’re hopeful to have a third charter. Need to start building a team. There’s a chance that I run more races next year if we have a third charter on the docket and have a sponsor to bring along, team members to groom, a crew chief to get reps, a driver to get reps. There’s a lot of scenarios that are in play. I’m hopeful I can keep going.
“There is also a scenario where that would make sense. We’ve put zero effort into the idea yet at this point. I have more years in me. I want to keep going.”
Dennis Krause has spent decades covering all forms of motorsports, including over 40 Indianapolis 500s, with stints at WIBA Radio, PIT PASS - Radio’s Premier Motorsports Magazine and Motorsports Minute. Follow him on X @DennisKrause500 or motorsportsminute.bluesky.social or motorsportsminute on Threads or MotorsportsMinute+ on Facebook.