NAVAL BASE CORONADO, Calif. — Shane van Gisbergen ripped through the streets of this famed Navy base across the bay from downtown San Diego at an average of 90.8 mph on Saturday, winning the pole position for NASCAR’s first-ever Cup Series race on an active military base.The rest of the weekend? Van Gisbergen and many of his peers have been speeding around on two wheels instead of four.Non-motorized scooters, some foot-powered and others with an electrical assist, have suddenly become all the rage in the NASCAR garage. Seemingly overnight, the majority of Cup Series drivers have obtained them and are using scooters to cover long distances in this spread-out footprint of a street course.NASCAR teams and drivers were not allowed to bring their typical brigade of golf carts on this base, which is how they normally get around during a given weekend. And since the drivers do not have their usual infield motorhomes here, some have even found it easier to commute from the nearby Hotel Del Coronado, where many are staying.That created a viral moment on Friday morning, when Katelyn Larson — the wife of defending Cup Series champion Kyle Larson — posted a video to her Instagram page showing drivers Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott sharing the same scooter on their way from the hotel to the gates of the base.
At NASCAR’s San Diego race, the most popular vehicles are … scooters?
How do you get around a 3.4-mile naval base track efficiently? Welcome to NASCAR's San Diego Scooter Society.












