Jimmie Johnson came home to race at Naval Base Coronado on Saturday and made clear he wants the NASCAR San Diego Weekend to last beyond this year. Speaking from the base, the San Diego native said he hopes the event is not a one-and-done and said, “I hope we’ll be returning.”
The return mattered because Johnson is not just any local draw. He is one of three seven-time champions in NASCAR, and the weekend put him back in the place where his family history and his racing life still overlap. He said the event was “one of the highlights of this year” and called it important for NASCAR in Southern California, while also praising the cooperation between NASCAR and the Navy.
For Johnson, the trip carried a personal pull that went well beyond the track. His grandparents were all in the Navy and are buried at Fort Rosecrans, and one grandfather served on an aircraft carrier. He also remembered walking along San Diego Bay and looking at the carriers parked along Coronado. “It’s been a while since I’ve been home,” he said, adding that he did not get back to El Cajon this time but felt memories come flooding back while driving around.
On the track, the homecoming was uneven. Johnson finished 30th in Friday’s Craftsman Trucks race after qualifying and practicing fourth-fastest, then led two laps early in the second stage before the race slipped away. He was running as high as second and third with 17 laps to go, but was twice spun out from behind after pitting. Johnson said the approach, which had him making one less pit stop than his rivals, “might have been a winning strategy,” though he added, “We’ll never know.”
There is still a bigger question hanging over the weekend than Johnson’s result. Ticket data released around the event showed California buyers accounted for 60% of sales for Saturday’s and Sunday’s races, while the other 40% came from buyers in all 50 states and 17 countries. Nearly 40% of buyers were female, 11 percentage points higher than other NASCAR events, evidence that the San Diego stop reached well beyond the usual crowd even as Johnson hoped it would stay on the schedule.
What has not been settled is whether NASCAR will bring the event back. Johnson said he hoped it would return, but no commitment was made public, leaving the weekend with the feel of a debut that could either become a fixture or remain a memory.
