For decades, the thunderous roar of Navy jet engines at full throttle defined the flight deck of the USS Midway (CV-41). However, during NASCAR San Diego weekend, a different kind of energy briefly took center stage as the electrifying reverberations of a high-powered race car echoed across the deck of the historic USS Midway Museum.
NASCAR made its inaugural visit to San Diego this summer and for the first time in its 78 year history, held a race on a military base. Naval Air Station North Island, part of the Naval Base Coronado complex, was the dramatic location of a NASCAR Cup Series race. The temporary street circuit, which included 16 turns over a 3.4 mile course, weaved its way through the base and alongside the USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) moored at the air station’s carrier pier.
“NASCAR weekend in San Diego is a one of a kind event,” said San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria. “This is an extremely exciting event for San Diego.”
To kick off this massive race event in an exhilarating style reserved only for NASCAR, the association’s governing body turned to Midway.
“We have incredible colleagues at NASCAR who oversee our video game division and they came to us saying they wanted to launch our newest game at the race in San Diego,” said Amy Lupo, president of NASCAR San Diego. “They asked if there would be a place to do it. We really wanted to ensure that all of San Diego was tied to the race event and not just Coronado. So we thought, why not see if we can have a race car do a burnout on the Midway.”
“When NASCAR first reached out to us, I’ll admit, our initial response was ‘you want to do what?,’” said David Koontz, Midway director of marketing. “This was indeed a wild idea, but after a few internal discussions amongst our staff, we thought that as long as it could be done safely, let’s give it a shot. We felt it would be a great opportunity to partner with NASCAR.”
The concept behind the burnout event on Midway was not only to promote NASCAR’s race weekend, but to also announce the launch of the newest version of its video game, NASCAR26, and which race car driver would grace the game’s cover.
“It was great to help NASCAR announce its new 2026 video game by doing a burnout on the flight deck,” said Terry Kraft, Midway’s president and CEO. “NASCAR is an American institution and Midway is an American institution. There was no better place to do it than on Midway.”
As the announcement was a closely held secret by NASCAR, the race car of Kyle Larson was craned on board Midway under the cloak of early morning darkness and hidden on the flight deck out of view of the museum’s staff, volunteers and visitors. It was only during the announcement event that Kyle, the 2025 NASACR Cup Series champion, thundered his No. 5 Chevy Camero ZL1 race car out in front of the flight deck’s island performing a series of spectacular burnout donuts to the surprise of all but a few of the attendees.
“Doing a burnout on an aircraft carrier is definitely a first for me and it’s something that I probably never thought that I’d get a chance to do,” said Kyle, who was chosen to be on the cover of the new NASCAR video game. “It was an awesome opportunity to do the burnouts here on the Midway and promote the race. It’s a really cool and a great experience.”
“NASCAR is an American institution and Midway is an American institution. There was no better place to do it than on Midway.”
NASCAR has had a long tradition of supporting active-duty military and veterans with a variety of programs and benefits at several of their venues throughout its race season. Keeping that spirit of support alive in San Diego, and in conjunction with the new video game announcement event, NASCAR made a $10,000 donation to Freedom Park at Burnham Navy Pier.
“Freedom Park is going to be a beautiful addition to the San Diego waterfront,” said Amy, who has been with NASCAR for five years. “NASCAR has a long history of supporting the military. We’re new to San Diego and I can’t think of a better way to start our race weekend than by making a donation to the Midway and Freedom Park.”
“We’re very grateful to NASCAR for their donation to Freedom Park,” said Terry, who became Midway’s CEO in 2023. “We’re building this park to remember the service and sacrifices of so many veterans, and to bring NASCAR in as part of the legacy of Freedom Park is fantastic.”
The donation by NASCAR is yet another healthy contribution to Midway’s on-going capital campaign for Freedom Park. The burnout, however, was a first ever on an aircraft carrier’s flight deck.
“The burnout was cool,” laughed Kyle, who finished third in the race at Naval Base Corondo. “The tires smoked up pretty good and I tried not to hit anything. I got a little closer to the island than anticipated, but I hope everyone enjoyed it.”
“It was very cool to see Kyle do the burnout,” said Terry, a former naval aviator who flew 40 combat missions from Midway during Operation Desert Storm. “We kept an eye on all our planes and he didn’t get too close. We left the skid marks on the deck so any NASCAR fan could see where it all happened.”
“It was an amazing burnout on the flight deck of the Midway,” said Amy. “It was pretty surreal.”
For the mayor, however, he’s happy to only have professionals doing burnouts in San Diego.
“The burnout by Kyle Larson on the Midway was an incredible experience,” said Mayor Gloria with a smile. “But let me be clear, you’re only allowed to do a burnout here if you are a NASCAR racer.”
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