NASCAR Makes First Start at Daytona Road Course on Sunday

Martin Truex Jr is 4/1 to win Sunday at Daytona.

You have to hand it to NASCAR for the job it has done during the coronavirus pandemic in creating drama and excitement for a 2020 season.

It could have sat back, eliminated races, and attempted a shortened season. But NASCAR went the other way and thought outside of the box with getting the sport up and running live on network TV before any of the others.

When it became apparent that stops at the road courses in Sonoma, California, and Watkins Glen, New York, were not going to happen, they started creating new locations and dates to ensure a 36-race schedule could be completed. They had three updated schedules to accommodate how the coronavirus was faring in certain areas since they re-booted the season on May 17 at Darlington.

One of the modifications was to replace the road course dates with a road race somewhere else, which is how Sunday’s Go Bowling 235 at Daytona International Speedway’s 14-turn, 3.57-mile high-banked tri-oval/Infield road course came about.

NASCAR has never used the course for a race, although the 12-turn version is used every year for sports cars in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona endurance race.

We saw Charlotte Motor Speedway combine its infield layout with the high-bankings together, calling it a Roval the last two years. But Daytona is going to be a completely different story because it’s bigger and the banking is steeper at 31 degrees, which will help it be the fastest road course in the world. NASCAR will also be using its fastest race package with the engines that produce 750 horsepower. No restrictor-plates or no tapered spacer like we’ve seen used in 16 of the 21 races this season.

When NASCAR was finalizing the last schedule update, the race package to use for the Daytona road course was heavily debated. The 750 package was ultimately decided upon because the road course needs quicker response time with the throttle that the 550 package doesn’t offer. But to slow the cars down they added a chicane on the final stretch, turns 13 and 14, before the finish line. I have no idea what to expect but I can’t wait to find out. The speed is going to be insane.


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