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SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 19: Alex Bowman, driver of the #48 Ally Chevrolet, drives during practice for the NASCAR Cup Series Anduril 250 at Naval Base Coronado on June 19, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Getty Images<\/p>\n
For one weekend, one of America\u2019s most secure and strategically important military installations stopped sounding like jet engines and started sounding like stock cars.<\/p>\n
That is, on paper anyway, a ridiculous sentence.<\/p>\n
But on Naval Base Coronado in San Diego <\/a>this weekend, NASCAR\u2019s arrival wasn\u2019t simply another destination event or another experiment in taking racing somewhere unusual. For the U.S. Navy, it became something bigger: a rare opportunity to pull back the curtain on a service that, by design, usually operates far from public view.<\/p>\n \u201cIt means that what we do matters,\u201d Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Manpower and Reserve Affairs Ben Kohlmann<\/a> said Friday inside a hangar transformed into a media center. \u201cWhen a culturally significant organization like NASCAR asks to partner with the Navy\u2026 what the sailors that are out or deployed in their country do matters.\u201d<\/p>\n Millions will tune in for restarts, strategy calls and the novelty of seeing race cars circulate around an active military installation.<\/p>\n The Navy knows that.<\/p>\n But Kohlmann suggested the real value isn\u2019t measured in ratings. It\u2019s visibility.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the things that the Navy is known for is kind of the silent service,\u201d he said. \u201cNot a lot of media out with us as we deploy. And yet we keep the sea lanes, the communication open, we ensure that free trade occurs.\u201d<\/p>\n That makes this weekend less of a race promotion and more of a showcase.<\/p>\n For years, sports leagues have sought military partnerships because patriotism plays well on television. What makes Coronado <\/a>different is that the military appears equally interested in the exchange.<\/p>\n According to Kohlmann, the event was the product of a multi-year planning effort that began when NASCAR first approached Navy leadership. Approval moved through operational channels all the way to the Chief of Naval Operations before execution shifted to local teams preparing the base to host one of the largest sporting events ever staged there.<\/p>\n SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 19: U.S. Navy service members walkl onstage during pre-race ceremonies prior to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Navy 250 at Naval Base Coronado on June 19, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by James Gilbert\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n Getty Images<\/p>\n And some of the people helping build that event weren\u2019t contractors.<\/p>\n They were sailors.<\/p>\n Among them was NASCAR driver and Navy Reserve Lieutenant Commander Jesse Iwuji<\/a>, whose current unit, Amphibious Construction Battalion One, helped support construction efforts for the temporary street circuit.<\/p>\n \u201cTo have my unit actually be part of that has been really, really cool,\u201d Iwuji said.<\/p>\n