Daytona set to enter a new era
On-track product takes more competitive turn
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The midpoint of the NASCAR season is here, making one last holiday weekend run at its birthplace, trying as always to deliver a white-knuckled thrillfest on the high banks of Daytona International Speedway.
The series is riding a high into Saturday night’s race following Alex Bowman’s first career Cup victory last week and a new rules package that NASCAR leadership believes has immensely improved the on-track product.
“It’s been an extraordinary year,” said Steve Phelps, who took over as president of NASCAR late last season. “I think the racing product has been exceptional. By and large, the fans are incredibly excited about what they see.”
The numbers support Phelps’ assertion that the racing is indeed more competitive than it was this time last season, when Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex romped over the competition during a summer stretch in which the three could not be beaten. There have been 602 green-flag passes for the lead in 17 races, up from 383 at this point last year. The average number of lead changes is nearly 19 per race, up from 15.88, and four races this season have produced record-setting green flag passes for the lead.
Conversely, though, there have been just seven winners this season, with the lion’s share of the checkered flags going to Joe Gibbs Racing and Team Penske. Gibbs drivers have combined to win 10 races, and Denny Hamlin led a 1-2-3 JGR sweep of the seasonopening Daytona 500, while Penske drivers have six wins.
Hendrick Motorsports is finally showing signs of a turnaround behind Bowman’s victory at Chicagoland and Chase Elliott’s win at Talladega, but it can’t be overlooked that the parity the new rules were intended to create has not trickled down to the rest of the field. Stewart-Haas Racing is winless so far — the organization won 12 races last year.
Daytona, an unpredictable and often crash-filled race, has been known to produce wild-card winners and last year the victory went to Erik Jones. But winning on the 2.5-mile superspeedway requires strategy, a lot of luck and, lately, alliances made through the garage.
Tension started in the first practice of the weekend, on Thursday when Brad Keselowski deliberately rear-ended William Byron to send a message that he will not tolerate blocking during the race. It might have been the warning shot on what Saturday night could look like in the final race run at Daytona on the July Fourth weekend.
The event is being moved to August next season as the regularseason finale, ending a run that began in 1959. The change is part of a scheduling shake-up that fans have demanded, with more changes coming in 2021.
Joey Logano will start on the pole after qualifying was canceled Friday at Daytona International Speedway after lightning was detected. Logano leads the Cup Series in owner points, so the Team Penske driver was awarded the top starting spot. Only one driver since 2010 — Dale Earnhardt Jr. in July 2015 — has won a Cup Series race at Daytona from the pole. Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing will start alongside Logano on the front row.