SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – The first-ever NASCAR race in San Diego and on an active military base came and went as fast as the cars racing in it.
“A lot of positivity, a lot of great takeaways, a lot of excitement about, about the race, the entire weekend,” Chris Cate, President & CEO of San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, said. “Which encouraged so much so that NASCAR is in conversations about how to bring this event back for next year, which is what we were hoping for is that we're able to showcase San Diego in a positive light.”
Cate told ABC 10News that the response that the region had to ticket sales was amazing.
A NASCAR representative released the following data to ABC 10News when it comes to attendance:
- Fan interest has exceeded all expectations from the moment we announced NASCAR's return to Southern California, as demand was immediate across ticketing, hospitality, and corporate partnerships.
- Most admissions sold out quickly, so NASCAR San Diego continued to add new experiences as we saw fan interest remain strong right up to race week.
- Beyond those who will be in attendance, we are seeing record engagement across all key metrics.
- Demographics: 60% in-state | 40% out-of-state | Fans across all 50 states and 17 countries
- San Diego weekend attracts a significantly higher share of female attendees (+11 percentage points vs. other NASCAR events); nearly 40% of ticket buyers are female
- Nearly 3x the number of Hispanic attendees compared to other NASCAR events
- 67% of attendees are new to attending a NASCAR event, with two-thirds of fans experiencing their first NASCAR race.
- In 2026, NASCAR sold out 7 NASCAR Cup Series events including the 11th consecutive DAYTONA 500, Texas Motor Speedway’s second consecutive sellout, Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway for fifth consecutive year, Nashville Superspeedway for the fourth consecutive year, Michigan International Speedway’s first sellout since 2005, Pocono Raceway for fourth consecutive year, and inaugural NASCAR San Diego Weekend two-day (Saturday, Sunday) sellout.
“When you have 40% of folks coming from outside of not only San Diego but California, that means that people are coming to San Diego. They're staying in hotel rooms. They're going out to dinner or lunch, spending money at restaurants in the neighborhood,” Cate said. “That spending really attracts the investment that we want to see in San Diego.”
Cate previously told ABC 10News a good comparison for the economic impact to San Diego would be the previous NASCAR event in Chicago.
“And you look at those numbers; they had over 130 million dollars in economic impact,” Cate told ABC 10News.
Cate said, given what we saw in the grandstands and with ticket sales, things look good for what San Diego should expect.
I think sheds good light on us being able to not only reach but surpass the economic impact from, from Chicago knowing that these conversations about hosting again in San Diego, whereas Chicago was more of a one-time affair,” Cate said.
