The first NASCAR race on an active military base, Naval Base Coronado, welcomed more than 125,000 visitors to town from June 19-21.
“This is a tremendously successful event,” said Ben Kennedy, NASCAR’s chief operating officer, on the final day. “We would love to return. We’re also cognizant of the fact this is (an) active military base.”
But while the NASCAR race put a spotlight on Coronado, the event didn’t bring in as much business as anticipated, according to several shop owners. In fact, one longtime business owner said more than $50,000 in typical sales for the week was lost and others said their sales slumped. There was also confusion about parking and long lines on the bridge. Meanwhile, some fans complained about the high food prices at the event.
Still, Discover Coronado, an organization that promotes Coronado as a destination, said most of Coronado’s hotels and resorts saw increased occupancy from the NASCAR event.
Now, business owners are turning toward the July 4th holiday — the 250th birthday of the United States — and one of the biggest tourist attractions for the community, and a boom for local businesses. And Mayor John Duncan wants to make sure if NASCAR returns, it’s not during the Independence Day holiday.
“We were planning to have a very busy week,” said Luca Allieri, managing partner at Il Fornaio Coronado for the past 20 years. “It was a beautiful event in itself, but not for the rest of the island.”
Fans in the thousands
NASCAR capped tickets at 50,000 people per day, with attendees representing 50 states and 17 countries.
“This weekend was all about our military and honoring them and thanking them for all that they do,” said Kennedy. “We also welcomed a lot of new fans this weekend, which is icing on the cake.”
According to Kennedy, 67% of the attendees had never been to a NASCAR race, while female attendance was 11% higher than usual. The Hispanic audience was threefold compared to other NASCAR events.
Kennedy told reporters his team adapted to the throngs throughout the weekend.
“We brought in food trucks. Brought in extra staff to help work our bars, our concession stands,” said Kennedy. “In real-time, our team was working on areas to continue to improve that fan experience.”
Meanwhile, however, NASCAR fans who left North Island were not permitted to re-enter.
Allieri said a few fans told him there was not enough food at the race, and it was expensive on the Navy base.
“The no re-entry program probably discourages people,” said Allieri, who added the traffic pushed people away from driving down Orange Avenue and visiting the island.
“Parkings were very chaotic too,” he added, describing the ferry as insane. “I’ve never seen so many people come in early in the morning through the ferry. They even doubled it and all the ferries were packed with people.”
Mary Frese, the owner and CEO of Clayton’s locations in Coronado, said it seemed as though usual tourism and local patronage was deterred by highway signs posted days in advance that warned of significant delays.
“Outside of those traveling directly to the event via the ferry landing, the downtown area remained unusually quiet with very little foot traffic throughout the weekend,” said Frese. “It seems our regular customers and locals may have been discouraged from coming into town.”
Impacts to Coronado eateries
Local businesses participated in the NASCAR Passport Program, providing fans and visitors with special offers from June 15–22 across San Diego.
Clayton’s Coffee Shop, Clayton’s Mexican Takeout and Clayton’s Bakery & Bistro were among several Coronado businesses offering discounted beverages and food.
Frese said they were very excited to have NASCAR on the island this summer.
“In anticipation of the event, we heavily staffed and prepared our locations for a significant increase in visitors,” said Frese. “However, we unfortunately experienced an unexpected decline from our normal level of business across the three days of the event. …We had very few people come by the locations to participate in the NASCAR Passport Program, which was a wonderful idea to help small businesses on the island…”
Il Fornaio Coronado was another business participating – offering one free appetizer with an entree purchase.
According to Allieri, approximately 10 people visited Il Fornaio Coronado for the NASCAR program offer.
“The majority came in on Friday, the first day, and we saw very little for Saturday and Sunday,” said Allieri.
Allieri said the early afternoon lunch time was completely dead, a time when Il Fornaio usually welcomes guests.
According to Allieri, Il Fornaio lost 25% of a typical $250,000 in total sales for the week expected around this time of the year.
“Huge impact for us because we’re missing $50,000 to $60,000,” said Allieri.
As early as June 22, and the days that followed the NASCAR race, Allieri said the restaurant benefitted from an unexpected increase of business.
Gelato Paradiso Coronado also participated in the NASCAR Passport Program, discounting $2 off any purchase.
Regional manager Petra Hart said the dessert shop was hopeful that the event weekend would be a huge draw for increased business.
But Hart said unfortunately the shop did not see any additional guests come through, had 9% lower sales than the previous weekend and was 30% slower than last year on the same weekend as NASCAR.
Hart also noted Gelato Paradiso employees were forced to make a longer commute through Imperial Beach instead of using the Coronado Bridge because of congestion.
Discover Coronado, the promotion arm for the community, believes most of Coronado’s hotels and resorts saw increased occupancy from the NASCAR event.
“We won’t have true occupancy data for several weeks,” Todd Little, executive director for Discover Coronado, said in a statement. “A large number of out-of-town fans, vendors, sponsors and race team members stayed in Coronado and downtown San Diego hotels. The Navy Lodge North Island on Naval Base Coronado probably saw the greatest impact from NASCAR.” (The lodge has 305 rooms.)
Despite a slower than usual weekend, Frese said, “We hope NASCAR does return to Coronado in the future and we welcome the crowds, but ideally the crowds make their way throughout the island to experience Coronado and support all of the businesses.”
July 4 NASCAR race: ‘Off the table’
In the days following the event, Duncan addressed concerns about NASCAR’s possible return on the Fourth of July, expressing disapproval.
According to Duncan, he told KUSI News on June 22 he would definitely not support that happening on the 4th of July.
Duncan said he spoke with Amy Lupo, president of NASCAR San Diego, on June 23 and expressed that Independence Day is a very special time with a historic parade and cherished traditions in Coronado.
“She assured me that NASCAR respects Coronado and that a race on the base during the Fourth is off the table, not being considered and will not be pursued,” said Duncan in a statement describing his gratitude for the association’s communication.
Duncan said NASCAR is committed to working closely with the City of Coronado and the community to address any concerns and be a great partner if the Navy desires another race on the base and approves it.
Matt Humphrey, NASCAR’s senior director of track communications, also squashed reports about NASCAR returning to Coronado on the Fourth of July.
According to Humphrey, NASCAR’s 2027 schedule is under development and expected to be finalized around mid-August to mid-September.
Kennedy, NASCAR’s CEO, said the racing organization plans future conversations with the Navy.
“I’d like to sit down with them, have a debrief, then have a conversation about: Is there an opportunity for us to return here?” said Kennedy on June 21. “Nothing to report today. A lot more conversations we’ll have after this weekend.”
