Denny Hamlin has won plenty of NASCAR races, but he’ll be facing a new challenge in San Diego next month. For the first time ever, the Cup Series heads to Coronado for a street race around the iconic naval base. The newly-named Qualcomm Circuit will have 16 turns over 3.4 miles, making for a unique challenge for the world’s best stock car drivers. Hamlin, who has 61 career victories and just won the NASCAR All-Star Race on Sunday in his No. 11 Progressive Toyota (along with debuting ‘The Car Lives’ campaign), is excited for a new adventure. The 45-year-old driver is 10th on the all-time wins list, but hasn’t won on a road course since 2016. “I truthfully am looking forward to it,” Hamlin said in an interview with NBC while promoting his partnership with Progressive. “Now, from a performance standpoint, do I wish we were turning left on an oval? Absolutely. But I enjoy new events. I certainly feel like they gather the viewers’ attention. “Certainly the 250th anniversary of the country, and around July Fourth Weekend is always going to be very important. But to have it at the naval base, I’m sure they’re going to be doing something big there. Being in a part of Southern California again, that’s an important factor (for NASCAR).” NASCAR hasn’t run a points-paying race in Southern California since 2023 when Fontana’s Auto Club Speedway held its final race. The sport held exhibition races inside the L.A. Memorial Coliseum from 2022-24. What will be the key to success at a track where no driver has ever turned a lap? According to Hamlin, it’s all about be a fast learner. “For us as drivers, we’re going to be learning a new course together,” he explained. “So, it’s not like there will be a big advantage for anyone in this. It’s going to be about who can adapt and learn the quickest. I typically enjoy tracks where it’s something new. When we went to the Chicago Street Course for the first time, I was able to get the pole there and run really well. I think there’s an opportunity there to beat our average statistics on road courses when we go to that track.” Road courses haven’t been Hamlin’s forte, even as he continues to rattle off victories late in his career. One outlier, though, was the aforementioned Chicago Street Course. He started first in the inaugural event in 2023 and finished fourth in the Windy City last summer. Navy May 4 San Diego NASCAR race to be held on ‘Qualcomm Circuit' NASCAR Apr 15 Austin Varco helps others through racing, hopes for hometown NASCAR debut Now, with this new street course on tap for June 21, he has some optimism about carrying that success across the country from Chicago to San Diego. Hamlin also co-owns 23XI Racing alongside Michael Jordan, and their star driver Tyler Reddick is a recent road course winner in Austin, Texas, earlier this year. Typically with new tracks, drivers are able to get into the simulator and practice. They’ll learn their braking points and the nuances that make the track unique. For San Diego, Hamlin still isn’t clear how the preparation process will work. NASCAR and iRacing could go out and scan the track to give the most realistic replica of the course (including bumps, elevation changes, etc.), or the teams could be left on their own to decipher everything ahead of time. “Really all I know about it is the track map that they’ve shown, and they really just finalized that,” Hamlin said. “It’s got lots of twists and turns, and some corners that are like ‘Will you have to let off (the gas pedal) for this or not?’ We’re going to need plenty of simulation time on it. “I don’t know whether they’re actually going to scan the racetrack, or whether they’re just going to kind of make it a flat surface that we get to practice on the computer. But that’s going to be the biggest thing, because we’re just not going to have a lot of at-track time on the course. “It’s just going to be about who’s going to learn it the quickest, and I feel as though Toyota does a good job with their simulation tools to give me that practice time,” he continued. ” We’re going to be intently watching those other series that are there as well to see how they’re navigating things.” The Cup Series will have 50 minutes of practice time on Friday, June 19, before qualifying on Saturday, June 20. The 75-lap race is set for Sunday, June 21, at 1 p.m. PT/4 p.m. ET. ...read more read less