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  • The White Zone: Thoughts on 2020 schedule

    The White Zone: Thoughts on 2020 schedule

    On Tuesday, NASCAR announced the 2020 schedule for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. It’s the biggest schedule realignment in over a decade. After sleeping on it overnight, I have some thoughts on the matter.

    Championship race moves to Phoenix

    I’ve heard people call for the championship race to rotate among different venues for years, but to ISM (Phoenix) Raceway?

    Were people really clamoring for this? Was there really a major push from fans to move the championship race to Phoenix? I don’t know. I’ve heard more people argue that it should go to Talladega Superspeedway.

    Furthermore, why move it from Homestead-Miami Speedway? It’s the best mile and a half track on the schedule and does an awesome job as the host of the championship race.

    NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell said as much during the NASCAR teleconference on Tuesday.

    He did, however, note that running the same tracks year after year might favor some drivers more than others. Which doesn’t make sense, when you compare the number of lead changes at Phoenix (in the fall) and Homestead.

    It’s also worth noting that Homestead has produced different winners since 2010. At Phoenix, Kyle Busch rides a two-race win streak.

    This isn’t a knock against Phoenix. I’ve never worked a race there, but I’m told by colleagues of mine that it’s a Grade-A sports facility, thanks to the recent 175-million dollar renovation.

    But the racing at Phoenix tends to be hit and miss, and the recent race a few weeks back doesn’t inspire optimism.

    If this is just a one year thing, and the title race rotates among venues every year, I can live with this. Although O’Donnell gave a conflicting answer to that.

    “Yeah, I think our hope would be to stay there for a little while,” he said. “I can’t say how long. I think with any venue, you want to see it have a chance and grow a little bit, see how that works. We’ll certainly take a look at it as we look at 2021 and beyond, see what’s on the table in terms of venues.

    “But this wasn’t a decision we said, ‘Hey, let’s go there for a year and rotate it.’ Our intent is to stay for a few years and see how we net out.”

    Bristol moving into the playoffs

    In terms of NASCAR, this isn’t really an Earth-shattering move. In terms of the state of Tennessee, however, this is major.

    Bristol Motor Speedway moves from its traditional August date to Sept. 19, which puts it on the same date as a home game at Neyland Stadium for the Tennessee Volunteers.

    In regards as to whether Bristol requested this, according to Becky Cox of Bristol Motor Speedway (she’s one of their main PR people), it was a “collaborative process with NASCAR stakeholders (teams, tracks, TV partners) while incorporating NASCAR fan feedback.”

    Roughly a 90-minute drive from Bristol, Knoxville, Tennesse is both a major ticket market for the track and a lodging area for fans going to Bristol who don’t want to pay the hiked up prices for hotels in the Tri-Cities area.

    Moving this race into football season complicates this immensely.

    For you non-Tennessee natives and/or residents, Volunteer football trumps all in this state. While Knoxville is a major NASCAR market, when talking about TV ratings, Volunteer football comes first in this city.

    Even though the Vols are at their nadir, in terms of football performance, they still averaged close to 93,000 fans for every game in 2018 (the lowest attendance was 86,753).

    Given the aforementioned aspect of Knoxville being a major NASCAR TV market, I’m willing to bet that there’s a large crossover of NASCAR/Volunteer football fans in this city. By moving it to September, that cuts into the number of people in Knoxville, as well as Tennessee, who’ll buy tickets to Bristol. Not to mention that it cuts down on the number of hotel rooms available in Knoxville for race fans.

    Granted, the game in question on Sept. 19 is against a Division I FCS school (Furman), but 95,855 fans showed up to the Vols matchup against FCS team ETSU in 2018. That probably had more to do with it being the home opener for the Vols that season, but the point is that Volunteer football towers over all in Tennessee. And given the well publicized sagging attendance at Bristol, they aren’t doing themselves any favors with this move.

    But they must’ve had more fans requesting this move than I thought.

    Daytona moves off Independence Day weekend

    As a bit of a traditionalist, this one kind of stings.

    Since Daytona International Speedway opened in 1959, it’s always been a staple of Independence Day weekend. Starting in 2020, however, it moves from that to the regular season finale.

    NASCAR didn’t make this decision lightly, according to O’Donnell. They wouldn’t have moved it from Independence Day weekend if it was to a point other than the end of the regular season. Drivers and teams told NASCAR that the regular season should begin and end in Daytona.

    “Everyone felt Daytona belonged there and that track deserved to potentially be in that date,” O’Donnell said. “That kind of started the thinking.”

    Overall, I’m fine with this.

    Rain has plagued this race for years. It’s also very hot in Florida this time of year. Also, we don’t run it on Independence Day anymore, and this race hasn’t fallen on Independence Day since 2009.

    I also love the idea of a restrictor plate race deciding who ultimately makes the Playoffs, even if plate racing now is more akin to a game of Russian roulette than actual racing.

    With that said, however, I don’t understand moving Indianapolis Motor Speedway back into July, when track president J. Douglas Boles cited heat as a major reason for wanting a date in September.

    It also doesn’t help that Indy has had well-publicized attendance woes for nearly the last decade.

    We’ll have to see how that one pans out.

    And the rest

    As for the rest of the changes, I don’t really have that strong of an opinion on them. I like that Richmond Raceway’s first race is going back to Sunday afternoon and I’m intrigued by the prospect of a Cup Series double-header at Pocono Raceway, but that’s about it. I’m indifferent to Martinsville Speedway getting a night race and Kansas Speedway going from night to day.

    Overall, NASCAR hit this out of the park. They did great with these changes to a schedule that had been stagnant for over a decade now.

    Of course, these changes will be for naught if massive changes in 2021 don’t happen as well.

    For now, however, let’s just see how this goes.

    That’s my view, for what it’s worth.

  • Opinion: Daytona in July too much of a tradition to change

    Opinion: Daytona in July too much of a tradition to change

    In no way is anyone obligated to stick with a tradition no matter how fixed it is. Change can often bring about positive results and could lead to a greater appreciation for how much that tradition has truly meant to some. When the Southern 500 at Darlington was moved from Labor Day to being the penultimate race in 2004, there was a lot of negative feedback on the move. When it returned as a Labor Day weekend event in 2015 it quickly became one of the most anticipated events of the season.

    But there are some things that just shouldn’t be changed regardless of intent or expectation and Daytona in July is a perfect example, considering NASCAR’s recent announcement that the Coke Zero Sugar 400 would cap off the regular season before the Playoffs in 2020.

    If you ask anyone about the Coke Zero Sugar 400 or the Coca-Cola Firecracker 250, they immediately get that picture in their head of a group of stock cars pouring onto the straightaway while the sun sets behind them, casting a deep blue/red hue across the sky. That is the defining image of summer for NASCAR’s fans. Back in the day, they’d even imagine Pepsi-Cola’s lettering on the catch fence or even the Pepsi globe right outside the fence. These days it’s the Coke Zero bottle-shaped trophy that was last held by Erik Jones.

    This is no reflection on Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but there is no way a July 4th NASCAR tradition can ever fully be rooted than at one of racing’s oldest tracks. NASCAR is a sport with deep roots in American lore and our love for the American V8 and Daytona Beach will forever be linked to the sport because of that love.

    NASCAR was birthed in Daytona. Some of NASCAR’s defining moments occurred in Daytona. What better way for the sport to celebrate our nation’s independence than to go back to where it all began at the high banks of the World Center of Speed?

    This isn’t to say that nothing good will come of the race as the regular season finale. In a way, the logic does make sense. To begin and end the regular season at Daytona is an approach that is understandable. It will still be a huge event with tremendous pressure to perform and a reason to revere the circuit’s return to Daytona.

    But the Playoff/Chase format is not one of NASCAR’s biggest accomplishments. If anything, it pales in comparison to the legacy and impact that the Daytona International Speedway has left on the sport.

    Daytona and the July event had been around for years before the advent of the Playoff system and to use Daytona as the ending of the regular season is an underwhelming idea. Daytona doesn’t need to be brought down by extra gimmicks. Daytona and all of its glory needs to be left to be as it is on the schedule.

    This is all speculation. I could be wrong – I hope I’m wrong. This may turn into something that is nothing short of amazing. But when we fell in love with NASCAR, the July event at Daytona became the epitome of summer for us. It was supposed to be fun in the summer sun, cooled down by a soft drink, Pepsi or Coke Zero Sugar, does it matter at this point?

    It has always been 40 of the world’s greatest drivers racing down the Superstretch while the sun fades into the July night and a reminder of why we love our country and our sport. It doesn’t get much better than that.

  • NASCAR announces 2020 schedule

    NASCAR announces 2020 schedule

    Heresay started 24 hours ago that the 2020 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule would be released sometime this week. Then it came out that it would be released on Tuesday. NASCAR built up the anticipation with the announcement earlier today that the official schedule release would happen at 4 p.m.

    The time came, and the changes were announced.

    NASCAR announced on Tuesday the 2020 schedule for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. It’s the biggest schedule realignment the Cup Series has undergone in over a decade.

    The major changes were as follows:

    The championship race will move from Homestead-Miami Speedway to ISM (Phoenix) Raceway. It will move to Veterans Day weekend, rather than the Sunday before Thanksgiving Day, which the championship race has been held on.

    The reasoning, according to NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell, was to prevent one driver from gaining a competitive advantage by running at the same track year after year.

    “Obviously a ton of investment has gone into ISM Raceway,” O’Donnell said. “We thought it was natural for us to make that rotation this year and see how it plays out, also put Miami in a date that works for them, as well.”

    He added that this probably isn’t a one year thing.

    “I can’t say how long,” he said. “I think with any venue, you want to see it have a chance and grow a little bit, see how that works. We’ll certainly take a look at it as we look at 2021 and beyond, see what’s on the table in terms of venues.”

    “But this wasn’t a decision we said, ‘Hey, let’s go there for a year and rotate it.’ Our intent is to stay for a few years and see how we net out.”

    Daytona International Speedway’s second race moves from Independence Day weekend to the regular season finale, which will now be in August.

    Given the attendance and weather issues that have plagued Daytona in July, NASCAR talked to drivers and teams on the matter, and they said, according to NASCAR, that Daytona at the end of the regular season was the best way to end it.

    “Everyone felt Daytona belonged there and that track deserved to potentially be in that date,” O’Donnell said.

    The Indianapolis Motor Speedway moves from September to Independence Day weekend.

    Bristol Motor Speedway’s night race moves from its August date to the Cup Series Playoffs on Sep. 19.

    “If NASCAR fans thought they’ve seen tempers flare and sparks fly under the lights at the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race, just wait until they experience a real pressure-packed NASCAR playoff elimination race at Bristol Motor Speedway,” said Jerry Caldwell, executive vice president and general manager of Bristol Motor Speedway.

    Pocono Raceway’s two dates will move to one date, as part of a double-header for the Cup Series.

    Martinsville Speedway’s first weekend moves from late March/early April to Mother’s Day weekend, and will be run on a Saturday night on May 9.

    Darlington Raceway remains in its Labor Day weekend slot, but will now open the Playoffs.

    There’s some other date shuffling.

    Screenshot from NASCAR.com
    Screenshot from NASCAR.com
    Screenshot from NASCAR.com
  • Shoutout of the week-Daytona

    Shoutout of the week-Daytona

    In a new column at Speedway Media, I will be giving shoutouts of the week to feature memorable drivers, teams and events.

    Here’s the first shoutout of the week and a bonus one as well.

    In this week’s shoutout of the week, we’ll highlight Josh Reaume who is the owner of his own team in the Truck Series, Reaume Brothers Racing, that fields the No. 33. Reaume might be the one that got lost in the shuffle when the race was all said and done at Daytona.

    While there were only nine trucks that finished the race, Reaume played his cards right and earned a career-best finish of sixth and the first ever top-10 finish of his career. During the span of Reaume career, he’s made 28 starts throughout five years.

    Last year, Reaume only made 12 starts with a best finish of 18th at Gateway last summer. He missed the field last year at Daytona, but got redemption this past weekend to finish sixth. It really says, anyone can win given the right opportunity.

    Reaume came close last Friday night but was happy with his finish. Daytona is where careers are made or broken and his sixth-place finish may help get more publicity for him and his team.

    The bonus shoutout of the week is DraftKings who have added the Truck Series to their fantasy lineup.

    The Truck Series, in most cases, has been the most exciting series in the past few years. And, while some of the finishes are remembered, most of them are forgotten unless you attended the event yourself or an especially memorable moment happened during the race.

    Using DraftKings could help bring in more fans to the Truck Series and more people to the races. The series is already off to a good start, where Kids 12 and under get in free to the Xfinity and Truck Series races. Perhaps, DraftKings will add more excitement from a series perspective.

    Last year, the Truck Series literally had exciting races all year round, but the races only get talked about in that day’s event and maybe a couple of days after for press material. Take, for example, Natalie Decker whose truck caught on fire on Lap 1 when she came down pit road after running over something. The Twitter machine exploded with memes and all sorts of other happenings.

    Or let’s go back two years ago at Gateway, where John Wes Townley and Spencer Gallagher got into a fight. On that weekend and for a couple of weeks, it was the most talked about topic in the world of NASCAR, as well as appearing on national sports shows. The fight is brought up every now and then, but that’s it.

    The Truck Series isn’t your typical water cooler talk at work on Mondays, unless you were there for one of the races and someone asks you about it, or something major happens as I listed above, but the Truck Series does have a decent fan base and a great following.

    However, DraftKings is a good place to start to bring more attention to the series, possibly bring in more fans and gain more popularity. It will take a couple of years, but perhaps one day, the Truck Series might be watercooler talk on Mondays.

  • McDowell remarks about Ford drivers could have consequences

    McDowell remarks about Ford drivers could have consequences

    Joey Logano was pushing Michael McDowell prior to a wreck on Lap 191 that took out over half the field and separated them apart on the race track.

    As Sunday’s Daytona 500 headed into overtime, Logano, who had one of the fastest cars in the race, was looking for a push in an attempt to get by the Joe Gibbs Racing teammates of Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch.

    Logano assumed McDowell would be willing to push him, but McDowell elected to go with Kyle Busch.

    However, McDowell hesitated, which allowed Hamlin to cruise to his second Daytona 500 victory in four years. Logano wound up fourth and McDowell fifth.

    Logano went over to talk to McDowell, but it was not an entirely productive conversation.

    “I was just surprised by the situation and what happened,” Logano said of his chat with McDowell. “I thought that was going to be the plan (working together). At that point he wasn’t going to win, he’d have to pass Kyle.

    “He’s racing, too, I guess, and we can’t win these things alone. We’ve proven that quite often but we did what we could do.”

    McDowell said he went with the driver who he felt had the best chance of getting to the front.

    “The No. 18 (Busch) had a big run, a lot of momentum and Joey had a lot of damage,” he said. “Joey wasn’t going to win the race. I wanted to put myself in the best spot to win the race, and the Fords weren’t that friendly to me this weekend.”

    McDowell said of Logano: “I just told him that my team doesn’t pay me to push Joey Logano to a win. That’s not what I get paid to do.

    “At 200 miles-per-hour, I made a split-second decision on what was the fastest car and who had the best shot of winning the race and that’s where I went.”

    McDowell’s fifth-place finish was just the second top-five of his Monster Energy Cup Series career. All seven of his career top-10s have also come on restrictor plate tracks. His decision not to work with Logano and his remarks about the other Ford drivers could come back to bite him at the remainder of the plate tracks this season. Perhaps they will be even less willing to work with him.

    McDowell, 34, started racing at the Cup level in 2008 for Michael Waltrip Racing. He has been behind the wheel full-time since the 2017 season.

  • Ryan Preece finishes eighth in Daytona 500 debut

    Ryan Preece finishes eighth in Daytona 500 debut

    Rookie Ryan Preece wheeled his way to an eighth-place finish Sunday evening in overtime scoring a top-10 in his debut Daytona 500.

    It was an impressive performance considering he only had four previous Cup Series starts in 2015 with a best finish of 32nd. But, while it might sound like a dream come true, Preece had conflicting emotions about the outcome.

    On the final restart, Preece was in the top five competing for the win. However, as he helped push Joey Logano into the top three he was shuffled back to eighth on the final lap as he tried to hold off the hard-charging No. 20 of Erik Jones.

    “Sitting here watching this (replay), I’m probably going to get frustrated with myself because there’s a couple of things I could have done different to help my chances,” Preece said. “I was so committed to pushing Joey (Logano) that I focused more on him than I did on some of the runs I probably should have focused on. All in all it’s a good day. It’s an eighth-place finish.”

    While Preece was second-guessing himself, his prowess on the track was undeniable to anyone watching the race. He started in 21st place in the No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet and worked his way toward the front as he maneuvered his way through a few late race collisions including an incident on Lap 192 that collected 21 cars.

    He may be a relative newcomer to the Monster Energy Cup Series but Preece has made his mark in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series with 22 wins, a championship in 2013 and four runner-up finishes in the series standings.

    “A lot of you guys might not know me, but I’m from a racing background,” he said. “Typically I’m competitive. I’m going to nitpick myself right now, but when I get in my truck and drive home, I’m going to be happy, but I’m going to sit here and watch this finish and say I could have had fifth, I could have had third.

    “But at the end of the day, it’s still a great day.”

    Heading into the race, Preece was aware that he had a lot to learn and his goal was “to race around these guys and not be erratic and not do anything stupid.”

    He also received some advice from former Daytona 500 winner Kevin Harvick.

    “It was the best advice,” Preece said, “Keep it in one piece until the end.”

    Mission accomplished.

    Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Daytona

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Daytona

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin held off Kyle Busch and Joey Logano to win the Daytona 500, his second career 500 win.

    “I went winless in 2018,” Hamlin said, “so naturally, I started to question myself. I also had other questions at Daytona, like ‘When is this race going to start?’ and ‘When is this race going to end?’”

    2. Kyle Busch: Busch finished second at Daytona, coming up short again in his bid to win NASCAR’s biggest race.

    “I didn’t get any help from Hamlin at all,” Busch said. “And I feel like I helped him plenty. As the laps were winding down, I’m pretty sure I said, and I quote, ‘I need help.’ And as everybody knows, when a Busch brother says ‘I need help,’ he really means it.”

    3. Joey Logano: Logano made a last lap run for the win at Daytona, but couldn’t catch Denny Hamlin, who took the win, while Logano finished fourth.

    “I couldn’t quite get the push I needed,” Logano said. “But I’ve always seemed to get the push I didn’t need, when I get bullied by other, more physically imposing drivers. And that would be every other driver.”

    4. Erik Jones: Jones finished third in the Daytona 500, helping Joe Gibbs Racing to a 1-2-3 sweep.

    “And all three cars passed inspection,” Jones said. “That makes it a ‘cleansweep.’ As you know, winning cars that fail post-race inspection will be stripped of the win. Finally, it seems NASCAR has adopted the ‘Cheaters never win’ mentality.”

    5. Michael McDowell: McDowell posted a strong fifth-place finish in the No. 34 Ford Mustang for Front Row Motorsports.

    “Joey Logano wondered why I didn’t help him during the final laps,” McDowell said. “Just because I drive a Ford doesn’t mean I’m obligated to offer assistance. What? Is Joey’s last name ‘Logan-owe?’ I don’t think so. If you ask me, his last name is ‘Logan-no.’”

    6. Ty Dillon: Dillon rolled to a sixth at Daytona and recorded the best Chevrolet result of the day.

    “Super Bowl MVP Julian Edelman waved the green flag to start the race,” Dillon said. “I guess now he knows what happens to start a NASCAR race. But does he know what happens after a race? He should, because earlier this year, he ‘failed inspection.’”

    7. Kyle Larson: Larson finished seventh in the Daytona 500.

    “To succeed at Daytona,” Larson said, “you have to have some luck. And we were lucky. Others were not. Chase Elliott may have had the worst luck of any driver. He was caught up in two wrecks, and had a delayed pit stop when one of his crew members got hooked by a stray hose on pit lane. Not to be confused with getting ‘hooked by a stray ho.’ That happens in Daytona’s infield.”

    8. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson survived an eventful Daytona 500 and finished ninth.

    “My car may say ‘Ally’ on the hood,” Johnson said, “but I’ve made quite a few enemies in the last two weeks at Daytona. Like Kyle Busch, for example. I wrecked him in Duel 1 last Thursday, and Kyle was none too happy. We talked, and I think we’re cool now. So, Kyle got over ‘it,’ but he just can’t get over the ‘hump,’ because he still hasn’t won the Daytona 500.”

    9. Ryan Preece: Preece finished eighth in the Daytona for JTG Daugherty Racing.

    “Like Joey Logano,” Preece said, “I’m from Connecticut. Unlike Joey Logano, I don’t have a dumb nickname like ‘Sliced Bread.’ I’ve got a cool nickname. Just call me ‘Preece’d Lightning.’”

    10. Alex Bowman: Bowman started second alongside pole sitter and Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron on his way to an 11th at Daytona.

    “Corey LaJoie had his face on the hood of his No. 32 car,” Bowman said. “After he suffered damage in an early crash, he had to pit to have his crew raise the hood and check things out. So, in more ways than one, LaJoie needs a ‘facelift.’”

  • Four takeaways from the NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series at Daytona

    Four takeaways from the NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series at Daytona

    The Truck Series returned to Daytona International Speedway this past weekend for its annual running of the NextEra  Energy Resources 250. As usual, the action didn’t disappoint and it was quite possibl, the best race of the whole week.

    1. Hattori Continues Truck Series Dominance/Starts Season On Right Track – Many people wondered what Hattori Racing would look like this season when the defending champion from that team didn’t have a ride for 2019 and wasn’t coming back. Insert Austin Hill who previously drove for Young’s Motorsports in previous races and had just 52 starts before he entered victory lane Friday night for the first time in the Truck Series. It seemed Hattori has made the right choice so far and it’ll be interesting to keep track if they continue their winning ways in 2019.
    2. Truck Series Best Race Of The Week – While it certainly was a wreckfest, the Truck Series was the best race of the week, as it had multiple lead changes and some exciting moves to increase your heart rate. There was side-by-side racing throughout the majority of the race. While only nine trucks finished on the lead lap and we had multiple big ones, it was still a great race aside from what we saw in the other series this past week.
    3. Angela Ruch Gets Top 10 Finish In Truck Series Return – While only nine trucks finished the race and she may get some backlash from fans that she got lucky, you should give credit where credit is due. Ruch avoided every wreck and found herself at the end for contention. However, handling issues with the truck prevented her from getting up there and challenging for the win. But what ifs come to mind. What if she didn’t have those handling issues? If she didn’t, then maybe we would be talking about a different story. But as the old saying goes, if wishes were fishes, the world would be an ocean.
    4. Drivers Get Career Night In Daytona – Daytona and yes Talladega is always the place for upsets, excitement, and good finishes. As a result, many drivers had a career night. Ross Chastain got his first top five after almost five years in the Truck Series, Josh Reaume got his first ever top-five finish, and Spencer Boyd earned his first top-five finish as well. Among the others was Bobby Gerhart despite a wrecked truck, Clay Greenfield, and Cory Roper who was running in the top five and was the underdog story before, unfortunately wrecking by himself .
  • The White Zone: Some thoughts on the 61st Daytona 500

    The White Zone: Some thoughts on the 61st Daytona 500

    The buildup and anticipation came and went. The 61st running of the Daytona 500 is officially in the books. A new season of NASCAR is truly underway.

    But before we turn our focus to Atlanta Motor Speedway and beyond, here’s some thoughts I had on Sunday’s race.

    “DiBurrito” had a breakout race

    DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – FEBRUARY 17: Matt DiBenedetto, driver of the #95 Procore Toyota, races Ricky Stenhouse Jr., driver of the #17 Fastenal Ford, during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series 61st Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 17, 2019 in Daytona Beach, Florida. Photo: Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

    Matt DiBenedetto has always been the eternal underdog in his years of racing in NASCAR. He’s shown flashes of excellence that made him a rising star in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series ranks, but it never really translated when he made it to the national level.

    That changed Sunday, when he led a race high of 49 laps. For context, that’s more laps than he’s led in any race, any season and his cumulative Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series seasons combined.

    “Unbelievable how fast my car was,” he said. “I’ve never had a piece under me like that, so that’s amazing.”

    Now keep in mind that the racing we see at Daytona International Speedway isn’t what we see at any other track, besides Talladega Superspeedway. And come next week at Atlanta, DiBenedetto could be back to running mid-pack.

    He also finished 28th, after being collected in the Big One with 10 laps remaining.

    With that said, however, success at plate tracks is still noteworthy, and there’s a lot you can extrapolate from a strong run.

    “Had a lot of changes with this team and we came out and led the most laps and were flying in our Toyota Camry today,” he added. “A lot of momentum going into the season even though it kind of ended pretty heartbreaking.”

    If he has sustained success from Atlanta onwards, you can point back to Feb. 17 as the day he had his “breakout race.”

    Sunday’s race saved a forgettable Speedweeks

    Up until the green flag dropped on Sunday’s Daytona 500, Speedweeks 2019 stood to be arguably the most forgettable in recent memory.

    The Clash was a single-file snoozefest that was highlighted by a misstep on Jimmie Johnson’s end that triggered a 17-car wreck. The Duels were a single-file snoozefest that was highlighted by Joey Logano’s last lap pass to win Duel No. 2. Saturday’s XFINITY Grand National Series race was a single-file snoozefest that had no bright spot.

    The only race that wasn’t a snoozefest, prior to the 500, was Friday night’s Gander Outdoors Truck Series race. And that was a wreck-filled event in which only nine trucks finished the race and a crew member was run over.

    Sunday’s Daytona 500, however, was an exciting race that saved this year’s Speedweeks. Granted, there were some of the usual drawbacks of modern restrictor plate racing: The lead car had such strong control of the draft and could block any advance at whim. And while the finish suffered because of this, passing wasn’t a Herculean task.

    With this being the final restrictor plate race, these drawbacks could be a non-issue at Talladega.

    The final restrictor plate race

    While restrictor plates had been used prior to 1988, Feb. 14, 1988 was the first time NASCAR mandated its at both Daytona and Talladega.

    While intended as a safety device, the restriction of air flow to the engine, thus reducing horsepower, had the byproduct of bunching the field together and creating the multi-line pack racing, and multi-car wrecks that became synonymous with Daytona and Talladega.

    With NASCAR’s new aero package slowing down speeds, the restrictor plate has become redundant.

    It’s too soon to say if the plate will ever make a comeback. There’s always the chance that NASCAR doesn’t like what it sees at Talladega and Daytona (safety speaking) with the new aero package and brings the plates back.

    But if it truly is the final time we ever used the plates, and while I don’t expect the racing at Daytona or Talladega to change that much, there’s a part of me that’s sad to see the device that led to the most competitive races (objectively speaking) NASCAR sees year in and year out.

    Ratings are up

    At the time that I wrote this, the overnight ratings for Sunday’s Daytona 500 were released.

    It also finished as the highest rated sports event of the weekend, beating out the NBA All-Star Game.

    This comes after an increase in ratings for The Clash.

    Of course, we have 35 more races to run. So it’s too early to say if this weekend was just a bright spot or sign of turning the ship around. But it’s great to have more people watching NASCAR’s biggest race this year.

  • NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series Power Rankings-Daytona

    NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series Power Rankings-Daytona

    The NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series returned to action at the famous Daytona International Speedway this past Friday night for its 24th year in the running since their inception in 1995. As it did last season, the Truck Series did not disappoint and was, quite possibly, the most wildest truck race ever at Daytona.

    For the first time this season, here’s a look at this weeks power rankings.

    1. Grant Enfinger – A valiant effort set by Enfinger on Friday night, who came from two laps down and almost won the race. Enfinger was looking for his third career win, his second at a Superspeedway since 2016 at Talladega. He had a decent showing in the stages, as Enfinger finished fifth and sixth, respectively. Enfinger ultimately wound up second on the scoring pylon after finishing .278 seconds behind the race winner, Austin Hill. It was Enfinger’s 19th top five of his career.
    2. Matt Crafton – Crafton was oh so close to breaking his winless streak, but he’ll have to wait until Atlanta to earn it. It didn’t come without hard work though and dodging crazy accidents. He missed the first big wreck on Lap 55 and somehow, Crafton barely skidded by on another big wreck toward the end of the race. He had a shot at the win on the first overtime, but after a second overtime, it killed any momentum, as Crafton was shuffled back and got hung up on the outside and fell back to ultimately finish fifth for his second top five at Daytona.
    3. Ross Chastain – After finding himself out of a ride at Chip Ganassi Racing in the off-season this winter, it was Al Niece of Niece Motorsports to give him a shot at the wheel and an opportunity for the win. Chastain avoided the majority of the wrecks aside from spinning himself out to avoid an accident. He had a shot to win the race when he was pushing Enfinger, but due to an ill-handling truck, Chastain had to settle for a third-place finish. It was the sixth top-five finish of his career, Chastain’s first since 2013 at Phoenix for the defunct Brad Keselowski Racing.
    4. Austin Hill – Some fans may say that Hill is another Cinderella story, as Hill earned his first career Truck Series win Friday night. It didn’t come without avoiding the major accidents, however. Hill barely missed the big one on Lap 100 and it was the one that gave him a chance at the win, as he came out of it unscathed. After being close on fuel with two overtimes, Hill managed to fend off veteran race drivers for the win. He led 39 laps and finished second in Stage 1. He also came back from a couple of penalties as well. It’ll be interesting to see if Hattori Racing can defend their title in 2019.
    5. Spencer Boyd – Not a bad return for the former NASCAR Xfinity Series driver after not competing in the Truck Series for two years, especially not having any Daytona truck starts. Even though he did not finish in the top 10 in either stage, Boyd was there when it counted and maybe if he had a little bit more luck, he might have won. However, Boyd settled for a fourth place finish for his first top five of his career in the Truck Series.

    The Truck Series continues their 23-race schedule for the second race of the season at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where NASCAR will play host to the Xfinity/Truck Series doubleheader on Saturday afternoon.