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The roar of NASCAR's V8 engine may well be heard through the streets of San Diego, California soon. As reported by Adam Stern, America's finest city could join the Chicago Street race as NASCAR plans to diversify and bring the high-octane racing closer to where fans live.
According to Sports Business Journal, NASCAR's sanctioning body has explored opportunities and venues to expand its racing property in the past few years. Moreover, NASCAR invited officials from different U.S. cities for a chance to watch the second Chicago Street Race in July. As per Stern, San Diego is one of the top choices for NASCAR to host a street race in the future.
NASCAR is keen on exploring places in Southern California and has also discussed potential venues with officials from Baltimore, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and a few from the Pacific Northwest. The interest in South California is due to the history of racing at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana which started in 1997.
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However, it is unclear if NASCAR would host two street race courses or if the new street venue would replace the Chicago Street Race. NASCAR has a three-year contract that runs through next year, but also has an opt-out clause that can end it prematurely. It is worth mentioning that the Chicago race turned out to be profitable but was impacted heavily by rains.
NASCAR legend hopes to come back to Chicago Street Circuit
After the 2024 Grant Park 165 race in the Windy City, NASCAR's Senior Vice President of Racing Development and Strategy Ben Kennedy spoke about his belief that NASCAR will return to Chicago next year.
Moreover, Jeff Gordon, four-time Cup Series champion and vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports hopes to continue racing on the streets of Chicago. Gordon said (via Fox Sports):
"It's a great way ... to not only show that we're capable of racing in locations like this and right in the center of a major metropolitan city, which is an important part of the market and the exposure, but it's also opening up the door to a lot of new fans,"
"I not only hope we can continue to come back here, I hope we can try to experiment with this in other places, too," he added.
NASCAR hasn't announced any update on the 2025 schedule but is set to release it in the next couple of weeks.
