Coronado Street Course

Speed Festival

The track used for the Speed Festival began as a 1.500 mi (2.414 km) circuit with seven turns,^[15] then was extended to 1.600 mi (2.575 km) in 1998.^[16] The final 1.700 mi (2.736 km) track had nine corners.^[2]

It was held on the southern tip of Runway 36 at Halsey Field, which is typically combined with the adjacent Runway 36 strip to create Runway 18/36. A lap began with a straightaway that led into a right hairpin, followed by a 90-degree left that crossed the width of the runway and onto the taxiway. A long straight took cars into a sharp right onto another taxiway, running along the road and through a chicane before reaching the apron. A pair of right turns brought drivers onto the entrance to Runway 36, where four 90° esses completed the course.^[17]

For the Stadium Super Trucks, ramps were added along the final two straightaways.^[17]

NASCAR

Qualcomm Circuit is 3.400 mi (5.472 km) long with 16 turns, making it the third longest track in NASCAR history.^[18] Before the inaugural race, drivers compared the layout to the Chicago Street Course with similar cornering, but found San Diego to be bumpier and had more alternating sections between wide and narrow courses.^[19] Fleet Readiness Center Southwest serves as the fan zone and garage.^[20]

The lap begins by crossing the "Ellyson Start/Finish Line", named in honor of Commander Theodore G. Ellyson, and into a sweeping right-hand turn. The following straightaway features a slight incline followed by a downhill braking section into back-to-back 90° left turns.^[21] The Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command and Andrew Mills Hall are located along this section, the latter's roof being used for spotters.^[22]

A right turn brings cars toward a straight and into turn five, which is located along the aircraft carrier docking station and therefore nicknamed "Carrier Corner".^[21] Opposite the docks are storage facilities, the Defense Logistics Agency's printing center, and the headquarters of Amphibious Construction Battalion 1.^[22]

After Carrier Corner comes a heavy braking zone into a right-hand turn, where the track narrows into a left turn. The backstretch leads toward the "Coronado Chicane", which has two wide corners akin to the first and last turns at Sebring International Raceway.^[21] Military facilities in this section include the campus for the Southwest Regional Apprentice Program along with the hangars for helicopter squadrons HSC-3 and HSC-21. A second spotter's nest is located here atop double-decker buses.^[22]

A series of esses and a tight chicane go toward "Runway Road" along the northern tip of Runway 36.^[21] Cars go on the runway with "lots of off-throttle time", then the track briefly widens before slowing into a chicane. A final left turn returns to the frontstretch to complete the lap.^[21]