For the first time ever this weekend, NASCAR is coming to an active military installation.
Each of the sport’s top three national touring series will race on a 3.4-mile road course designed for Naval Base Coronado off the coast of San Diego. The action begins Friday with a Craftsman Truck Series race, the Navy 250, with an entry list that is full of recognizable names and former stars of the sport.
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The headliner of the group is former seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson. A native of Southern California, the 50-year-old — who is now the co-owner of a Cup Series team, Legacy Motor Club — couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get behind the wheel in San Diego.
“Growing up just miles from San Diego, I dreamed about racing here in a NASCAR vehicle someday, but I never thought it would be possible. I just came to the realization that there would be no way NASCAR could race in that city – as there would be nowhere to put a track,” Johnson said in a statement earlier this year. “So, it’s just mind-blowing to me that NASCAR made this a reality.”
It’ll be just the second time in Johnson’s motorsports career that he’s competed in the Truck Series, last doing so in 2008 at Bristol for a team that was owned by Hall of Fame NFL wide receiver Randy Moss. Johnson led 29 laps in that race before crashing out and finishing 34th. In the Navy 250, he’ll be piloting the No. 1 Toyota for TRICON Garage, with Jerame Donley serving as his crew chief.
Johnson will also race in Sunday’s Cup Series race, the Anduril 250, driving the No. 84 Toyota for Legacy Motor Club as the team’s third car in the race. Since retiring from full-time racing after the 2020 season, Johnson has competed in a handful of Cup Series races and ran the Daytona 500 annually — finishing third in 2025.
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In his NASCAR career, Johnson has just one road course win, taking the checkered flag at Sonoma in 2010.
The current points leader in the Truck Series is Layne Riggs, driver of the No. 34 Ford, with three wins. Kaden Honeycutt, driver of the No. 11 Toyota, is second in the standings and won the last truck race at a road course, taking the checkered flag at Watkins Glen in May.
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Here are the other big names in Friday’s Truck Series race, which begins at 7 p.m. ET on FS1.
Jamie McMurray
In 16 seasons as a Cup Series driver, McMurray won a pair of NASCAR’s crown jewels, driving into victory lane at the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 in 2010. He was NASCAR’s Rookie of the Year in 2003, won an all-star race and was also part of a team that won the Rolex 24 at Daytona in 2013.
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The 50-year-old McMurray dabbled in the Truck Series in his career, competing in 25 races and winning one in 2004 at Martinsville. His last truck race was in 2008. McMurray will be driving the No. 25 Ram for Kaulig Racing.
Brendan Gaughan
A versatile driver who has won several stockcar and off-road competitions — including the 2025 Baja 1000 Class 1 — Gaughan is a veteran of the Truck Series. He was the Rookie of the Year in 2002 and voted as the Most Popular Driver of the series in 2003. In 217 races over 14 seasons, he notched 80 top-10 finishes and won eight races. In his final full-time season in the Truck Series, Gaughan finished in the top five 10 times in 2013.
Gaughan, 50, won a road course race in 2014, taking the checkered flag at Road America in the second-tier O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. At the Cup Series level, he finished seventh in the 2020 Daytona 500.
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The California native and two-time champion of the Winston West Series will pilot the No. 20 Chevrolet for McAnally Hilgemann Racing.
Kaz Grala
In 2017, Grala became the youngest driver to win a NASCAR race at Daytona, taking the checkered flag at the age of 18 in the Truck Series race that year. But that’s still Grala’s only victory in the top three levels of NASCAR.
He has two top-10 finishes in the Cup Series and ran a full-time schedule at the top level of the sport for Rick Ware Racing in 2024. Grala, now 27 years old, has 19 top-10 finishes in the Truck Series in 51 races. For the past two seasons, he has been Legacy Motor Club’s reserve and simulation driver, and has raced part-time for Sam Hunt Racing in the O’Reilly Series. Last year in the second-tier series, he ran well at two road courses, placing 11th at Watkins Glen and fourth at the Charlotte Roval.
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Grala will be driving the No. 62 Toyota for Halmar Friesen Racing.
Adam Andretti
Yes, he’s from that famous racing family. Adam is the younger brother of the late John Andretti and the nephew of Mario Andretti. This will be the fifth time the 47-year-old has raced in the Truck Series this season, with a best finish of 12th at Atlanta.
Andretti will be behind the wheel of the No. 5 Toyota for TRICON Garage.
Justin Marks
Marks is the owner of Trackhouse Racing, the Cup Series team that features Ross Chastain, Connor Zilisch and road course ace Shane van Gisbergen. But Marks is also an accomplished wheelman.
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He finished 12th in the 2018 Daytona 500 and in 2016, won an O’Reilly Series race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. He also has four top-10 finishes in the Truck Series. Marks will pilot the No. 77 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports in San Diego.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jimmie Johnson, Jamie McMurray return to NASCAR with Truck race on Navy base
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