NASCAR drivers and race officials visited Naval Air Station North Island this week to meet with sailors and make connections ahead of a series of weekend races in June.
NASCAR Cup Series drivers Christopher Bell, Ty Dillon and Ryan Preece drew oversize ping-pong balls in a draft lottery to pair local Navy units with individual drivers.
The drivers will begin visiting the units at the base between now and race weekend, June 19-21, according to NASCAR.
"I'm representing the USS Carl Vinson on my car, so I got to meet those folks and I'm just pumped," Dillon said after the draft. "We race in so many different places across the country, but never do it on a military base, so this is going to be a super special event for all of us (drivers). We're all grateful to be a part of it."
The course, at 3 1/2 miles, is the longest in NASCAR history, according to race officials.
It's also not all left turns — the street course will have drivers navigating the base's surface asphalt streets as well as sections of its concrete flight line.
Lt. Cmdr. Jesse Iwuji, a Navy Reservist and part-time NASCAR driver, helped match the drafted drivers' names with their units.
Former NFL quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick served as the draft's host. Fitzpatrick is an NFL analyst for Amazon Prime Video — the platform on which the race, the Anduril 250, will stream.
"We’re all very excited to have a race on the base here and telling all the different people at the base how appreciative we are of them and how excited these drivers are to come and show their talent," Fitzpatrick said.
The three days of races start Friday, June 19, with a Craftsman Truck Series race open exclusively to military families.
Ticketed races on Saturday and Sunday will be open to the public, with an O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race and the Cup Series Anduril 250.
NASCAR's Amy Lupo is working with the Navy to ensure the track is safe — for drivers and fans.
She said planning for the race has been ongoing for more than two years — well before it was announced last summer.
"We've done a LiDAR scan of the track and turned it into a racing simulator," Lupo said, referencing light detection and ranging technology used to create accurate three-dimensional models of the environment.
Several NASCAR drivers drove the simulation, she said.
"We've made some adjustments to the course based on that," Lupo said.
Lupo told KPBS on Wednesday that the traffic plan will be released soon. Navy and NASCAR officials expect 50,000 spectators to visit the base each day of race weekend.
