NASCAR has confirmed that the United States Secretary of War Pete Hegseth will serve as the honorary starter for this Sunday's Cup race at Naval Base Coronado in San Diego, California.
All three national divisions are racing at the brand-new street circuit this weekend, which marks the first time NASCAR has ever raced on an active military base. The bumpy, technical course features 16 corners and is 3.4 miles long.
Hegseth was appointed as the 29th Secretary of Defense at the start of President Donald J. Trump's second term, a role that he later rebranded as the Secretary of War in September of last year.
As honorary starter, Hegseth will wave the green flag for the Anduril 250 when the field of 39 cars go racing on Sunday, 4pm EST. He previously attended the 2025 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway as one of the grand marshals.
Shane van Gisbergen has won six of the last seven road/street courses on the Cup schedule, and enters as the favorite to win this weekend. NASCAR will race at another California road course next weekend at Sonoma Raceway, which is the fourth and final road course on the 2026 schedule.
Van Gisbergen won at Watkins Glen earlier this year, and finished second to Tyler Reddick at COTA.
