Spectacle won’t be the same

In typical fashion, COVID-19 restricts race’s fan attendance

DAYTONA BEACH — The Daytona 500 is much more than a race, even to the drivers on the track.

Chase Elliott called the Daytona 500 “a spectacle,” yet knows the 63rd edition will be a much more subdued affair due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Attendance will be restricted to around 30,000 fans at an event that typically attracts a race-day crowd of 200,000 in the grandstands and infield area at Daytona International Speedway.

“Being a part of it, just the energy here is unlike anywhere else that we go ... I hate that,” Elliott said. “We need to get back on track somehow and get the people to the track because they ultimately make it what it is.”

For now, drivers will make due and embrace the opportunity to drive at all.

“It’s a big balance of staying safe and keeping your drivers and team people isolated to make sure we don’t have infection in this area,” two-time defending champion Denny Hamlin said. “It is a little bit of a bummer. It just doesn’t quite feel the same. I’m happy we’re actually getting to race.

“I’m happy we do have some fans that get to come.”

Barriers erected throughout the grounds to help direct crowd flow and encourage social distancing have turned the storied track into a maze.

Hamlin said he got turned around on his stroll to Victory Lane on Thursday for the 2020 championship-ring ceremony.

“I told them I felt like a mouse trying to find the cheese,” Hamlin joked. “I’m going to invest in metal gates because everything is blocked off and I couldn’t figure out where to go and I’ve been here 20 years. It’s very, very different.

“I hope the atmosphere when they have those fans here ramps up.”

Elliott’s chase

Starting the Daytona 500 is one thing; finishing is another one. Elliott knows all too well. The son of two-time winner Bill Elliott earned the pole during his first two trips to the Great American Race. But he managed a 37th-place showing in 2016 and came in 14th a year later. Chase Elliott’s next two appearances then ended in crashes, followed by a 17th-place finish in 2020. Among the betting favorites once again to win, the 25-year-old is not counting on anything Sunday — other than plenty of pandemonium.

“I feel like that last handful of 500s down here have been pretty wild, just from a lot of wrecks,” Elliott said. “Have to finish to have a shot.”

The past three Daytona 500s have gone to overtime following late-race chaos and multi-car pileups. Elliott said timing his moves and trusting his feel for the No. 9 Chevrolet will be key.

“It’s really just you kind of feel when you have momentum and you have a good push and you’re giving someone a push,” Elliott explained. “A lot of times you’ll have a good run and nowhere to go with it, just picking your battles. Understanding when you have momentum and when you don’t is the big one.”

Rain, rain go away

Rain postponed the 2020 Daytona 500 for just the second time in the race’s long history.

Sunday’s forecast suggests another Monday running of the Great American Race.

Weather.com predicts a 60% chance of thunderstorms on race day, an improvement from the 90% forecast earlier in the week.