Now that Cup, Xfinity and Truck teams have completed one race each on the Daytona road track, should that become a regular event for each series?
Cup will be back on that course next year. The Busch Clash will be on the road on the night of February 9, but for this course no other plans have been announced to host other Cup, Xfinity and Trucks races.
“I think we’ve certainly proved that it works and that we can put on an exciting show here, and we will, I’m sure, get into the conversations of consideration for our return,” said Scott Miller, NASCAR senior vice president of competition, over the prospect of more series races on the Daytona roadway.
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He is not the only one who loves the track.
“It’s one I would love to see if we can put it on the schedule,” said Denny Hamlin after the second finish of winner Chase Elliott. ‘I would love to see it. I think it’s a good race track for us. ”
Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. also loves the course.
“I thought the race went really well,” Truex said after finishing third. ‘The racing was good. You could make passes if you were faster than a man, and that is always what you are looking for as a competitor. I think this is a good show, so I would love it. ”
While the weekend did not have the chaotic finish that the Charlotte Roval did for the inaugural cup match there in 2018, there has been a share of wild moments over the weekend. That included a late restart in the Xfinity race.
If your controller turns off.#NASCAR pic.twitter.com/OiaoDpoMOV
– NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) August 15, 2020
“She’s wrecking again. Wrecking still. Still wrecking. Caution is out.”
Sa. Folle. Wrecking. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/ze0w14w6DN
– NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) August 15, 2020
If the Daytona roadway is added to the cup schedule, what race will come next? Does that mean that the second race at the Daytona Oval – the final in the regular season this season – will be replaced? If so, is that a move that will be good for teams? They would only have three highway races, so these cars are less used. One advantage is that there would be one less chance of destroying a car.
For Cup would it be good to have three races at a different location? Charlotte Motor Speedway, in a typical year, hosts two point races and the All-Star Race. Moving this year’s All-Star Race to Bristol shows that the event could change locations, as some have been suggesting for years. Of course, if the All-Star Race remained in Bristol, the track would yield three races.
Also worth noting is that if Daytona holds three-point races with the addition of the road track event, one race would have to come off the schedule if series officials wanted to keep the schedule at 36-point races. Which track, probably owned by NASCAR, would miss a date?
That’s one of the many questions NASCAR needs to address if it really wants to add the Daytona road course to any future schedule.
