(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)
By Aaron Bearden

For decades sports car have descended upon Daytona International Speedway each January to contest the Rolex 24 at Daytona – one of America’s most prestigious races. While events like the 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans hold similar prestige in IMSA circles, the Rolex holds a special place on the calendar, serving as something of an unofficial beginning to the paved racing season. 

NASCAR holds top billing at the Florida facility, hosting its crown jewel event on the oval each February and another race in July during each year prior to this one, when it was shifted to the regular season finale slot in September. But while the series has crowned Daytona 500 winners and seen numerous crashes in the draft, it had never dared to take to the road course. 

There have been road courses on the NASCAR circuit for years. Watkins Glen International and Sonoma Raceway hosted Cup each season, with Road America, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and Canadian Tire Motorsports Park joining the schedules for the sport’s second and third tours during the 2010s. Charlotte Motor Speedway got creative and swapped its second race weekend to the facility’s ROVAL course, adding right turns to the playoffs each fall. 

But Daytona wasn’t ever through of as a location for road course racing in the NASCAR world. It was a place for high speeds, close quarters and bravery. The road course rarely came up, and even when it became an idea that had staying power the circuit was left with the annual pre-season Cup exhibition race instead of a points race. 

That first Cup road course effort at the track was was planned for 2021. Then COVID-19 happened. 

Suddenly NASCAR was forced to get creative to fill its traditional 36-race points schedule. With Sonoma and Watkins Glen unavailable, the sport needed another circuit to test the road course prowess of its top drivers. 

In came Daytona – without practice or qualifying. 

Over three days each of NASCAR’s national tours and the ARCA Menards Series contested races on the track, with no prior track time for any competitors outside of previous sports cart experience and simulator time. 

That made for an unpredictable race weekend, but ultimately played out as a relative success. The ARCA field got spread out in its run, but both the Xfinity Series and Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series delivered chaotic affairs that came down to the final five laps. 

Xfinity ended in a predictable Austin Cindric triumph, but that wasn’t before an intense battle for a Stage 2 victory with Chase Briscoe – which Briscoe won – and the ultimate highlight of the entire race weekend. 

Multiple cars blew Turn 1 on a late restart, sending the field upwards of seven-wide before chaos erupted at the exit of the corner. 

The Truck Series followed on Sunday with another eventful run, coming down to the final lap as Sheldon Creed held off Brett Moffitt in a battle to the checkered flag. 

There were issues along the way – the traditional bus stop chicane on the backstretch caused extensive damage for drivers like Justin Haley and Earl Bamber that hopped a wheel off-track and drove through it. Drivers struggled with the braking for both it and the new front stretch chicane, and when they blew it there was confusion over the proper penalty process and when, or if, they should stop and go somewhere on the track. 

The biggest issue wasn’t related to the track itself, but the location and time of year. Florida’s summer heat provided an immense challenge to competitors in the stock cars, resulting in a double-digit total of Xfinity Series drivers going to the infield care center, JJ Yeley exiting his car early in the Cup race and Ty Majeski being transported to a nearby hospital for treatment before being released to head home. 

That wasn’t good and shows a clear need for a date change should this race return. But on-track there was a good mix of chaos and competition heading into the Cup race, providing hope for an eventful run from NASCAR’s top tour. 

That didn’t ultimately play out as many might have expected. Tossed into the unknown, the stars of NASCAR’s elite level showcased their abilities with a race that didn’t look far off from the standard trip to Sonoma or Watkins Glen. There were incidents throughout the day, but in the end only one accident was bad enough to yield a caution in the entire race. 

“These drivers are really, really good,” Denny Hamlin said of the field. “Myself and some friends were talking about that before the race today, and we were like, I wonder how many cautions there will be. I’m like, these guys are pretty good. They found a way to adapt and they’ve got a lot of tools to help them prepare for these races.

“I mean, these are pros, and you see a clean race whenever you see the driver quality that we have in the Cup Series.” 

The only significant risk of an issue for the field came as it dove into Turn 1 on the opening lap, but Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. discussed their planned braking point before the race to ensure chaos didn’t reign as they led the pack into the first leg of the race. 

“I think we all understand, we’ve been doing this long enough, that you can’t win it in the first corner but you sure can lose it,” Truex said. “It was really just about trying to get a gauge on how comfortable each other was, what kind of brake markers we thought would work, so we were all kind of on the same page so we didn’t crash in the first corner and look like idiots.”

Chase Elliott held off Hamlin to take the race win, securing another impressive road course victory that places him among the best at the discipline. 

That was the lead talking point leaving the race. The event that carried the greatest risk of being a total wild card during the COVID-19 era turned out not to be one at all, playing out no different than any other road course race in recent years. 

Should Daytona return? 

While it wasn’t as unpredictable as some might have anticipated, NASCAR’s debut on the Daytona road course was still a successful weekend of action that offered something unique in the midst of the coronavirus-altered schedule. 

That begets the question: Should NASCAR return to the 3.57-mile course in future years? 

It’s a tough question to answer, even for the sanctioning body. 

“I think that we certainly proved that it works and we can put on an exciting show here, and will, I’m sure, go into the talks of consideration for us coming back,” NASCAR vice president of competition Scott Miller said of the race’s odds for future editions. 

Few drivers spent time discussing the potential for a return, but many seemed to enjoy the course in their first run around it in a stock car. 

“The track was a lot of fun,” Hamlin said. “The first laps I got to run on it was today. Definitely a fun road course. It’s got some good passing zones, good opportunities. 

“You’ve got to really make sure your car is good in the fast stuff and in the infield in the slower corners. I think it’s definitely one of my favorite road courses I’ve ran for sure.” 

Truex said he’d be okay with it as a points race again in future years. 

“I thought we’ve seen a good race, and obviously not a ton of cautions, not a ton of crashes and guys doing crazy stuff,” he said. “I thought the race went really well. 

“The racing was good. You could make passes if you were faster than a guy, and that’s always as a competitor what you’re looking for, and I think that’s what puts on a good show, so I’d be totally fine with it.” 

To his credit, Truex is right. Daytona’s road course can put on an entirely acceptable points race. 

The true question is whether or not it’s necessary. 

Daytona already has two events on the oval – including the regular season finale in just under two weeks. The Roval-style road course slot on the schedule is already filled by Charlotte Motor Speedway, and as a standard road course Daytona has a difficult argument for a slot against other promising facilities like Wisconsin’s Road America. 

The good news is that the track would need little work to hold a successful event – something other new venues can’t be certain of. Race-winner Elliott claimed he “thought the track was fine,” but the front stretch chicane may need some work for NASCAR’s return in next February’s Clash. 

“That last chicane was pretty tough,” Joey Logano said. “You can’t really get in there. It isn’t a real good spot. If I was to adjust anything, I would adjust that last chicane because it doesn’t present a passing opportunity.”

With a few tweaks to it, the course could be a genuine success for the Clash. Whether it’s lone NASCAR points weekend proved it worthwhile for future points races remains to be seen. 

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Aaron Bearden Daytona International Speedway Featured NASCAR Cup Series