Weekend Preview: Daytona road
course debuts pivotal
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[August 14, 2020]
NASCAR has proven itself adept
at managing a schedule in the ever-changing COVID-19 restricted
conditions - racing at a slate of venues both intriguing and
competitive. And this weekend's Daytona International Speedway Road
Course debut looks to fit that criteria.
The Go Bowling 235 (Aug. 16 at 3 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN, SiriusXM
NASCAR Radio) presents a new challenge for the drivers and a welcome
curiosity for new and longtime fans as stock cars compete on the
3.61-mile, 14-turn road course on the famous banks and through a
technical infield of turns - for the first time in NASCAR's 71-year
history.
With only four races remaining to set the 16-driver 2020 playoff
field, this unique stop on the schedule provides the opportunity for
competitive drama.
A total of 10 active NASCAR Cup Series drivers have run the road
course previously.
Seven-time series champion and Hendrick Motorsport's driver Jimmie
Johnson and Front Row Motorsport's Michael McDowell lead the series
IMSA sportscar starts in the Rolex 24 with seven each. Among the 10
active drivers to participate in IMSA at Daytona, Kyle Busch was the
most recent. He raced a GTD-class entry in this year's Rolex 24.
Longtime fan favorite Brendan Gaughan is entered for this weekend's
race and he has three Rolex 24 starts, including a class win in 2011
- the only NASCAR Cup Series driving competing on Sunday with a
former road course win at Daytona.
With no practice or qualifying for the race, preparation has come
from computer simulators and word of mouth from those more
experienced on the Daytona Road Course. The challenge is maneuvering
a bulky stock car through a course that encompasses both the
high-banked turns and a technical drive through the infield.
"It's a really tricky infield portion," said Johnson, driver of the
No. 48 Chevrolet and a two-time Rolex 24 runner-up (2005, 2008).
"Starting through Turn 1 coming off the banking from the tri-oval,
that entry is very tricky in a sports car. I think in our cars it
will be harder yet.
"I'm thankful there's a chicane to slow us down some before we get
there and that should help with the braking stability and really,
how rough and bumpy that Turn 1 entry is. The infield portion is
really tight and that‘s an interesting challenge there just how
tight and slow the infield piece is. Then you get out on the NASCAR
section and even the bus stop portion on the back stretch is pretty
big so you have this really slow infield and really fast outer area
all around."
Johnson is hopeful his experience on the course will pay off. He is
one of three drivers just below the cutoff line to qualify for the
16-driver playoffs, likely needing a victory to ensure his position
to contend for a record eighth championship in his final full-time
NASCAR Cup Series season.
There are six playoff positions not currently filled by winners
entering this weekend's race at Daytona - a race trophy that also
doubles as an automatic ticket to race for a title.
The points are tight from 14th place Clint Bowyer to 19th place
Tyler Reddick. Bowyer holds only a 34-point advantage over 16th
place William Byron. He is 60 points up on 17th place Erik Jones.
Byron holds a 26-point edge on Jones and Johnson (who are tied) and
a 36-point edge on Reddick. Jones, Johnson and Reddick are separated
by only 10 points.
Among these drivers fighting for a playoff spot, Jones has one road
course win in NASCAR national series competition - winning a 2015
NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoor Truck Series race at Canadian Tire
Motorsports Park. Johnson has a 2010 NASCAR Cup series win at Sonoma
Raceway.
Among current drivers, Martin Truex Jr., championship points leader
Kevin Harvick and reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch are
the only drivers with wins at both Watkins Glen, N.Y., and Sonoma,
Calif., - two of the three road courses normally used in NASCAR Cup
Series competition. Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott are the winners at
the two Charlotte ROVAL races to date.
With his second career win at Watkins Glen then the victory at the
Charlotte ROVAL last year, Elliott could become the first driver
since NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart (2004-05) to win three
consecutive road course races should he take the victory Sunday.
"I am super excited just to go somewhere new," said Elliott, driver
of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. "I've enjoyed Watkins
Glen these past couple of years. We have a new challenge ahead with
the Daytona Road Course.
"I think the biggest thing is not having any practice. I think it is
going to be exciting but it's also going to be really hard for the
guys that have never made a lap there before. I think it's going to
give a pretty big advantage to those who've run the 24-hour race and
have made any laps on that track.
"I've never made a lap. I don't even know what turns are where. I'm
going to get on iRacing and try and make some laps just to
familiarize myself with the track. I've watched the 24-hour race,
but I've never really paid a ton of attention to it. It's going to
be really difficult for people like me who have never seen it."
XFINITY SERIES
It just so happens that this year's top-ranked NASCAR Xfinity Series
drivers have proved themselves the series' best road course
competitors, too. And with eight races remining to set the 2020
championship field, Saturday's UNOH 188 at the Daytona International
Speedway Road Course (Aug. 15 at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM
NASCAR Radio) becomes especially compelling.
Only a small handful of competitors have ever turned laps on the
3.61-mile, 14-turn course on both Daytona International Speedway's
high banks and its challenging infield. Among those are the two
Xfinity Series championship leaders - Austin Cindric and Chase
Briscoe - who competed there just this January.
Cindric, last week's winner at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis.,
holds an 11-point advantage on five-time winner Briscoe, who won on
the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in July. Both have run
the Daytona Road Course - minus the chicane installed for the NASCAR
weekend.
Cindric has competed in three Rolex 24 races with a best finish of
fifth in the GTD Class in 2019. Plus, both ran the four-hour IMSA
SportsCar Challenge race that opens the Rolex 24 weekend in January.
Justin Allgaier is the only other multi-time Xfinity Series road
course winner competing fulltime for the Xfinity Series title this
year. He owns three career Xfinity Series road course victories.
He's ranked seventh in the championship standings, more than eager
to finally notch his first win of the year.
Joining them are several "road course ringers" to contend with this
weekend. A.J. Allmendinger, who has a NASCAR Cup Series win at
Watkins Glen and three previous Xfinity Series road course
victories, has been a factor in deciding every road course race this
year. He is another with plenty of Daytona International Speedway
Road Course experience with 14 starts in the Rolex 24 including the
overall win in the 2012 Rolex 24.
Another veteran on the Daytona Road Course entered this week is Andy
Lally, who started 23rd and finished fifth last week at Road America
in the No. 02 Chevrolet. He has 29 sports car starts at Daytona,
including 19 in the Rolex 24 - a race he's won five times in class.
Australian sports car star Earl Bamber will be making his NASCAR
debut at Daytona driving the perennial-contending No. 21 Richard
Childress Racing Chevrolet. Bamber is a five-time IMSA winner and
was runner-up in the GTLM class in the Rolex 24 this January.
While this one-of-a-kind event on the Daytona Road Course circuit is
intriguing on its own, it also represents an important race toward
establishing the championship contending 12 drivers.
[to top of second column] |
Six drivers - Cindric, Briscoe, Noah Gragson, Harrison Burton,
Brandon Jones and Justin Haley --have punched their playoff ticket
with wins this season. They all also happen to be competitive road
course racers as well.
There is a lot of competitive drama for those final few playoff
transfer positions. Eleventh place Riley Herbst holds only a
19-point edge on 12th place Brandon Brown in the final two transfer
positions. Jeremy Clements, a former road course winner, fell to
13th position in the standings and is 53 points behind Brown. Myatt
Snider, another driver with a lot of road course experience, has
also fallen out of the playoff transfer group and is 73 points
behind Brown.
A first-time season winner is always a possibility and especially so
on a first-time visit to a road course turning this week's event
into a thriller on many levels.
"Truthfully, these first-time races have worked out great for me
between the Roval and Indy, so I'm all for it," said Briscoe, driver
of the No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford. "I enjoy going to places
where I feel it's a clean slate just because I don't feel like I'm
behind the eight-ball as much.
"You go to a place like Mid-Ohio or Road America, where I'd never
been to before, and I'm trying to play catch-up to guys who have a
lot of laps at those tracks. When we go to a place like the Daytona
Road Course for the first time, we're all on an even playing field.
I would rather run the road course than the superspeedway just
because I feel like it puts the race more in the driver's hands. So,
I'm looking forward to it. I think it's going to be a really good
race."
GANDER RV & OUTDOORS TRUCK SERIES
Perhaps the biggest wild card in its Daytona International Speedway
Road Course debut may be the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck
Series field in Sunday afternoon's Sunoco 159 (Aug. 16 at 12 p.m. ET
on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
With the exception of road course "ringer" Alex Tagliani, the vast
make-up of the 39-car field of drivers has no experience on the
3.61-mile, 14-turn Daytona Road Course that incorporates the famous
track's vast superspeedway turns as well as a tight and challenging
infield road course.
And if the new stop didn't make this weekend interesting enough, the
Gander Trucks race includes the first of a three-part Triple Truck
Challenge incentive.
The winner of Sunday's race earns a $50,000 bonus as part of the
program. The next two races part of the program are at Dover
International Speedway next weekend and then Aug. 30 at World Wide
Technology Raceway in Gateway. Should a driver win two of these
races, he earns a $150,000 paycheck. Should he win all three, he
would earn a $500,000 bonus
The Daytona Road Course portion of the incentive creates a wide-open
field of favorites. Among NASCAR's three premier series, the trucks
annually race the least on road courses so this weekend's challenge
at a first-ever venue will surely be a wild card as the series has
five races remaining to set its 10-driver playoff field.
Brett Moffitt, the 2018 series champion, won last year's truck
series road course at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park leading a
dominating 44 of the 64 laps. None of the other former Bowmanville
winners are entered this week.
Young talent Zane Smith became the most recent fulltime series
driver to earn a victory, hoisting his first trophy last week in
Michigan - an achievement that has guaranteed the 21-year-old
Californian playoff eligibility. Championship points leader Austin
Hill, Smith, Sheldon Creed and Matt Crafton all have wins assuring
their place in the playoff field as well. Grant Enfinger has two
victories.
That leaves five playoff positions currently decided by points -
unless a new driver wins in the next five races. Among those on the
playoff bubble, ninth place Derek Kraus holds a 1-point edge on 10th
place Todd Gilliland. Tyler Ankrum, ranked 11th, is only 29 points
behind Gilliland.
A pair of typical championship contenders - 2016 series champion
Johnny Sauter and last year's Championship Four contender Stewart
Friesen - sits farther outside the cutoff in what has been an
uncharacteristic season for them. Sauter is 13th in the standings,
72 behind 10th place Gilliland. Friesen is ranked 15th, 103 points
behind the playoff cutoff.
"I'm excited to run the road course," said Austin Hill, whose No. 16
Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota will feature a paint scheme
honoring P.J. Jones' famous No. 98 IMSA GTP car that won the Rolex
24 in 1993. "I know a lot of people might be nervous about it, but
I'm really looking forward to it. I've always enjoyed road course
racing.
"It'll be a big challenge to take the green flag with no practice
and to learn your marks during the race. We need to stay out of
trouble, inch up to it and be smart in the first stage and make sure
we're around in the final stage.
"Maybe we can put this TRD throwback scheme back in Victory Lane
like PJ Jones did in 1993 at the 24 Hours."
NASCAR Cup Series
Next Race: Go Bowling 235
The Place: Daytona International Speedway Road Course
The Date: Sunday, August 16
The Time: 3 p.m. ET
TV: NBC, 2:30 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 234.65 miles (65 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 15),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 30), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 65)
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Next Race: UNOH 188
The Place: Daytona International Speedway Road Course
The Date: Saturday, August 15
The Time: 3 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSN, 2:30 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 187.72 miles (52 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 15),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 30), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 52)
NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series
Next Race: Sunoco 159
The Place: Daytona International Speedway Road Course
The Date: Sunday, August 16
The Time: 12 p.m. ET
TV: FS1, 11 a.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 158.85 miles (44 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 12),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 25), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 44)
--Field Level Media
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