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Orlando Ramirez\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\nNASCAR\u2019s inaugural foray onto an active military base has resulted in a 16-turn, 3.4-mile course that drivers are describing as the most technical and challenging road course they have ever faced.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt took me a good 45 minutes to an hour to learn the track and figure out which turn was coming up next,\u201d William Byron said about his time in the simulator. \u201cThe middle of the course is very difficult. There\u2019s just a lot of open space that is really not used, so I think you\u2019re going to see a lot of passing opportunities through there. You\u2019re going to see dive bombs because you can give up an exit just to get position on someone, but they might be able to kind of make a run back at you. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s tough. It\u2019s visually difficult because you\u2019re just trying to figure out what corner is coming up next. It is way more complicated\u2026 than Chicago was the first time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Key areas of the course are:<\/p>\n
The concrete pit road, which is located between turns 16 and 1. It is rough concrete because it\u2019s where helicopters are parked. The pit road entrance\u2019s design is similar to the one at Sonoma Raceway but the car\u2019s position on it is like Watkins Glen\u2019s. Each team\u2019s pit stall is 28 feet-by-2 inches long and 16 feet-by-6 inches wide. A downhill rise about halfway through turn 1 drops into turn 2.Orlando Ramirez\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
Shane van Gisbergen watches a US Navy service member drives the NASCAR San Diego course simulator at the Naval Base Coronado.<\/p>\n
Spotter locations are turn 2 atop about a barracks building, double-decker busses in turns 5 and 8, and a building by the chicane. Turns 3 and 4 pass by the USS Carl Vinson, a nuclear-powered supercarrier that\u2019s the flagship for Carrier Strike Group 1. Turn 4 has crane rails that have been made smoother. Some pavement was added there as well as in the chicane. The chicane was installed to slow cars for the pit road entrance. The course goes past residences and office buildings. Turn 7 takes the course along the shoreline. Turns 8 through 13 are on the flight line that\u2019s normally home to various equipment, including helicopters and Ospreys.The alternate start\/finish line is after turn 15. The restart zone is in turn 16. They can begin racing as soon as they exit it.The choose mark is just before turn 8.<\/p>\n
Chase Briscoe considers it the \u201cmost technical race track that I\u2019ve ever ran on in my career.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou go to some road courses and there\u2019s just some corners that don\u2019t really matter,\u201d Briscoe says. \u201cLike everybody\u2019s going to be the exact same speed through them. San Diego, there\u2019s not a single corner that is not like a massive time game or loss that just compounds the next one. There\u2019s no flow. Every corner is so opposite of the one before it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Briscoe has actually had to change his driving style.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s not a single corner that is not like a massive time game or loss that just compounds the next one. There\u2019s no flow. Every corner is so opposite of the one before it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEven sometimes using two or three different driving techniques for two or three different corners in a row,\u201d Briscoe said. \u201cIt is an extremely challenging race track.\u201d<\/p>\n
Due to the Qualcomm Circuit being on the Naval Base Coronado flight line, its roughness and the big gaps in the concrete remind Shane van Gisbergen of Sebring International Raceway, which was Hendricks Field during World War II. The military base was deactivated in 1946 and the first race held on the concrete runways in 1950.<\/p>\n
Van Gisbergen said he had turned some laps on the Naval Base Coronado course on iRacing. He described the layout as \u201cpretty cool\u201d.<\/p>\n
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Google Earth<\/p>\n
An overview of the area where the course is laid out.<\/p>\n
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NASCAR<\/p>\n
A map of the course as it runs through the base.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s gonna be really rough and technical,\u201d Van Gisbergen said. \u201cWhen there\u2019s bumps, it\u2019s all about the car. You\u2019ve got to have good suspension set up, soft and compliant.\u201d <\/p>\n
When the course was being developed, NASCAR consulted with various drivers who would go to its research and development center in Concord, North Carolina, to use the iRacing format program. Jerry Kaproth, NASCAR managing director of track development, said the final configuration was close to the one with which they started. <\/p>\n
\u201cAs we kind of landed on the configuration, we\u2019d go back to the drivers and meet with them regarding some of the competitive locations,\u201d Kaproth said. \u201cWe\u2019ve also had drivers on the scene. Once we identified the locations where we wanted some tire packs, we refined that with the UNL (University of Nebraska at Lincoln) staff.\u201d <\/p>\n
Bryon noted the Chicago Street Course had several 90-degree turns but was pretty simple in terms of layout, just tight. However, that\u2019s not the case with the San Diego course. <\/p>\n
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Orlando Ramirez\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
Construction workers installing fencing.<\/p>\n
\u201cSan Diego is tight, but also very technical,\u201d Byron said. \u201cI feel like it\u2019s going to be really detrimental if you push too hard in certain sections.\u201d <\/p>\n
Jeremy Casperson, NASCAR senior director of design and development, said NASCAR began moving equipment onto the base on May 25. Part of the airfield was closed along the front stretch and construction started on the grandstands and a large hospitality facility on the frontstretch. On June 1, track wall construction began. Casperson said that on June 16, about 98 percent of the right wall was installed and 95 percent of the left wall. <\/p>\n
Tim Bermann, NASCAR managing director of competition operations, said caution periods during the race would be \u201cquickie yellows\u201d. The Southern California Association with the SCCA Corner Workers will be used. A blue flag will be waved by the corner workers for a local caution as well as a full course caution. <\/p>\n
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