Thompson is a veteran of the ARCA Series and became the oldest pole victor at Daytona International Speedway at 63 in the series’ season-opening race in 2015.
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NASCAR recognized Danica Patrick in the pre-race driver meeting in honor of her final Daytona 500. For the casual fan, that’s extremely exciting.
Crew members perform a pit stop on driver William Byron’s vehicle during the first of two qualifying races for the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla., Thursday, Feb. 15, 2018.
For starters, NASCAR chose to eliminate its ride height rule.
But Wednesday was Media Day, about the only time during Speed Week you can get NASCAR drivers to slow down. Because of that, the car’s rear spoiler is much lower, which creates less drag and less downforce. He twice spun competitors not because he made contact with their cars, but because Stenhouse sucked the air away from their cars and caused them to lose control.
Being successful today is not going to be easy with the restrictor-plate style of racing require on the 2.5-mile oval at the World Center of Racing in Daytona Beach. Truex won a series-best eight races, the most by a driver in NASCAR’s top series since Carl Edwards won nine in 2008. “We’ve got a lot of great customers in the area”.
Another factor that will compound this problem will be the weather.
“We only have three full-time employees on the race team”, he said, “but we have what I like to call the Black’s Tire gang”.
The 40-car field will be led to the 3 p.m. green flag by polesitter Alex Bowman, 24, wheeling the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. The hotter the ambient and track temperatures are, the less grip a driver has out on the track.
If you aren’t an avid follower of NASCAR or simply haven’t watched the sport in awhile, you need to know about the race format changes implemented by NASCAR before the 2017 season. “I enjoy that part of it, and also Liberty is a big sponsor of ours, so it’s great to have them on the vehicle”.
“There’s also, I think, a big discrepancy amongst manufacturers”, he said. Blaney will start the race in third with Logano behind him in fifth. The Team Penske driver has been conservative so far during Speedweeks, but that’s what a victor does: Seizes the right moment.
Bowman certainly doesn’t have the pedigree of the drivers ahead of him in the NASCAR betting odds, but the 24-year-old has something those guys don’t: a spot on the pole for one of the most popular auto races of the year.
Martin Truex found himself and the No. 78 Bass Pro Shops/5-hour ENERGY Toyota stuck in a game of single-file follow the leader during the second Can-Am Duel 150 at Daytona International Speedway.
But another side effect Johnson and 2015 Cup Series champion Kyle Busch both predict is a greater separation between the efficient and less-skilled pit crews.
Elliott is 22 and one of NASCAR’s budding stars. “It’s such a big race, and we’ve been so close (to winning it)”. “Our focus is on getting through this race, and then we’ll worry about the next one”. Harvick has a good starting position of sixth and he has finished in the top 5 in two of the last three years of this race.
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“This is the pinnacle”, said 2016 Daytona 500 victor Denny Hamlin.
