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  *Comments on Daytona Intl. Speedway Road Course:*
  View the most recent comment <#41> | Post a comment <#post>


  1.   Sector posted:
  08.15.2020 - 12:10 pm
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NASCAR's three national series (Truck, Xfinity and Cup) finally makes
their appearances at the Daytona Road Course!

The COVID-19 pandemic cancelled a handful of races (mainly Watkins Glen
in New York for Xfinity and Cup) so NASCAR needed another road course to
replace it for the 2020 schedule. Daytona opened up the possibility and
now we are racing here!!

I believe ARCA had two road courses cancelled also, thus adding only one
race at Daytona as well.


  2.   TheDewCrew posted:
  08.15.2020 - 1:11 pm
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The Daytona Road Course or ROVAL, is a 3.61 mile road course, made out
of part of the existing Daytona International Speedway 2.5 Mile layout,
and the infield section of the track. The track hosts the 24 Hours of
Daytona race every January, before NASCAR's Speedweeks. In 2020, after
the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, forced NASCAR to cancel their annual trip
to Watkins Glen in New York state, the Daytona International Speedway
was chosen as the track to replace the Glen. However, instead of the
oval configuration, the road course was announced as the configuration
they would run. NASCAR had already planned to run the 2021 Busch Clash
on the road course. This weekend, ARCA, the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors
Truck Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, and NASCAR Cup Series will run on
the course for the first time in a historic race


  3.   PucciMan posted:
  08.15.2020 - 1:37 pm
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@2 It's not called Roval. It never has and it'll never will be.


  4.   ShinyMew151 posted:
  08.15.2020 - 2:06 pm
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This doesn't need a separate page


  5.   NascarLeadLapPoints posted:
  08.15.2020 - 2:13 pm
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#4 it listed in Nascar book as a different track, and stats will counted
as Daytona (Road) not Daytona


  6.   Jimmie4life posted:
  08.15.2020 - 2:14 pm
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@3 Is it such a big deal? It's technically a ROVAL, considering it uses
both the main 2.5 mile race track, and does the infield road course. I
don't see a reason to complain about it.


  7.   Corey posted:
  08.15.2020 - 2:14 pm
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The original meaning of a roval was an oval that raced like a road
course. So basically Pocono.


  8.   David posted:
  08.15.2020 - 2:15 pm
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@5 is correct. NASCAR is counting this as a separate track from the
regular Daytona oval, so this site might as well do so too.


  9.   Timothy_Eklund posted:
  08.15.2020 - 3:06 pm
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@4 yes, it does.


  10.   E-Rick95 posted:
  08.15.2020 - 3:18 pm
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i wonder with the 2021 schedule not yet being released, makes you think
the switch to the Daytona Road Course this year could become a permanent
thing in the future


  11.   Mile501 posted:
  08.15.2020 - 3:37 pm
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@1 - Yes, ARCA also had 2 road courses cancelled. Originally, ARCA was
scheduled to race at Mid-Ohio on May 29 and Watkins Glen on August 14.

Glad to see this track get its own page! That certainly helps to keep
the data more organized.


  12.   Sector posted:
  08.15.2020 - 4:11 pm
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#11 Thanks for clarifying!

The home of the Infamous 24 Hours at Daytona in SportsCar Racing.


  13.   Mile501 posted:
  08.15.2020 - 4:34 pm
   Rate this comment:      (1)      (0)

To expand on #11, this would have been ARCA's first visit to Mid-Ohio
since 1965 and their first visit to Watkins Glen since 2001. Instead,
they get their first-ever visit to the Daytona Road Course.


  14.   possum posted:
  08.15.2020 - 4:45 pm
   Rate this comment:      (1)      (0)

@3 - LOL at you. Obviously it has been called a Roval since that's what
the post you responded to called it, and obviously it'll continue to be
called a Roval since that's a good name for this sort of track.

Probably worth noting, tho, that the NASCAR Roval is slightly different
from the traditional Daytona road course, since it has an extra chicane
after "NASCAR 4", which makes the track slightly longer than the sports
car version.


  15.   Sector posted:
  08.15.2020 - 8:04 pm
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#14 Maybe it's better to call it the ROVAL in the NASCAR series, but for
SportsCar it's a road course. Either way it is all represented the same,
so it doesn't really matter which "label" you choose.


  16.   Sector posted:
  08.15.2020 - 8:09 pm
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#15 Also to add on to that for me "road courses" are specifically for
the tracks built as a road course (Sonoma, Watkins Glen, Laguna Seca, Le
Mans, Bathurst, Sebring, Circuit of the Americas and more).

ROVAL is designed for tracks that aren't originally for road courses but
an adjustment made from OVAL race tracks (Daytona, Indianapolis and
Charlotte as biggest examples).

If we differentiate road courses and street courses then ROVAL by
definition should be it's own specific category in my opinion.


  17.   TheLongShot posted:
  08.15.2020 - 8:19 pm
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Thanks to Alan and co. for getting this page up!


  18.   possum posted:
  08.15.2020 - 8:48 pm
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@16 - by and large I agree. To me the distinctive feature of a roval is
having high-banked turns, which purpose-built road courses don't have
(Monza being sort of an exception), so I wouldn't include Indianapolis.
From a technical perspective having to handle road course turns and high
bank turns is very challenging as the car setups are so different.


  19.   RaceFanX posted:
  08.17.2020 - 12:05 pm
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Daytona borrowed extra curbs from the Charlotte Motor Speedway, used to
set up its roval, to get everything in place for the NASCAR races held
here in 2020.


  20.   Canadianfan posted:
  08.17.2020 - 1:33 pm
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According to kickinthetires Action Express Racing in conjunction with
NASCAR tested the Next-Gen (GEN7) car this morning on the road course.

Cole Custer will be driving it at Dover next week.

https://kickinthetires.net/nascar/exclusive-photo-imsas-action-express-testing-a-nascar-gen-7-car-at-daytona-road-course/


  21.   AH posted:
  08.17.2020 - 2:45 pm
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@20 if i read the article correctly earlier today. That team actually
built their own car and rented the track privately for the test. It is
not technically through nascar.


  22.   possum posted:
  08.17.2020 - 6:32 pm
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@21 - interesting. Why would Action Express build a Cup car? Are they
planning to run Cup next year instead of the WeatherTech series? They
definately have some stock-car background on their staff...


  23.   Canadianfan posted:
  08.17.2020 - 9:11 pm
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@21

Actually Jim France owns part of Action Express Racing he was one of the
original founders of the team.


  24.   RaceFanX posted:
  08.18.2020 - 1:26 pm
   Rate this comment:      (1)      (0)

The 24 Hours of Daytona here started as a three-hour sprint in 1962
before expanding to a 2000-mile race in 1964 and finally a twice around
the clock battle in 1966. Some early road races here actually started
with a Le Mans start featuring the cars lined up on pit road and the
drivers running over to get in them.


  25.   possum posted:
  08.18.2020 - 7:47 pm
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@23 - I was actually thinking of Gary Nelson, Action Express team
manager, someone who knows a tad more about building a Cup car than Jim
France (I'm also under the impression that after JC France, Jim's son,
stopped racing that France no longer had an interest in Action Express).


  26.   Canadianfan posted:
  08.18.2020 - 9:30 pm
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@25

Actually per Jenna Fryer last year he still does have ownership in the
team. She was talking about it in an article last year in regarding is
there a conflict of interest with Penske owning IndyCar as a current
example. Jim must be involved because to the best of my knowledge the
only ones allowed to build one of these cars right now is RCR who built
the prototype for NASCAR.


  27.   Canadianfan posted:
  12.03.2020 - 2:44 pm
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From Sportscar365:

QUAL RACE AT ROAR: @IMSA will hold a 100-minute qualifying race on Sun.
Jan. 24 that will set the grid for the @Rolex24Hours.


  28.   Canadianfan posted:
  12.04.2020 - 4:35 pm
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From Bob Pockrass:

Jimmie Johnson, Simon Pagenaud, Kamui Kobayashi, and Mike Rockenfeller
will drive the Action Express No. 48 Cadillac at the Rolex 24. Ally will
sponsor the car.

(This was the rumoured 2nd AXR car.)


  29.   JSPorts posted:
  12.04.2020 - 5:19 pm
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This is great news! I believe that's the 7th DPi car & 33rd overall car
confirmed for the 24. I hope they can win it, that would be a great
feather in the hat for Jimmie's career and could provide him with a
confidence boost going into his IndyCar road races. He'll likely be the
weak link on the team, but he did have a very strong run at the Cup race
on this track this year, so it's not out of the question that he could
be fast.


  30.   Corey posted:
  12.04.2020 - 6:50 pm
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Jimmie Johnson, your 2021 Rolex 24 champion. My reasoning. Kamui
Kobayashi has run the race twice and won it both times.


  31.   Jimmie4life posted:
  12.04.2020 - 7:18 pm
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I doubt Jimmie's gonna win, but he can with that experience. Jeff Gordon
won despite him spinning super early on in that race. Maybe Jimmie can
pull it off? I'd love to see it, but I don't this so here.


  32.   RaceFanX posted:
  12.08.2020 - 2:55 pm
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For a track that was never intended to host a points-paying Cup race
this infield course is now hosting one for the second year in a row,
officially becoming a recurring part of the Cup schedule. After being a
de facto pinch hitter for Watkins Glen in 2020 this track is now hosting
another Cup race in early 2021 to substitute for the Auto Club Speedway
as tight Covid-19-related restrictions mean it still isn't viable to
hold an event of any size in Southern California. The 2021 Busch Clash
planned for the road course is also going ahead as scheduled.


  33.   Corey posted:
  12.08.2020 - 3:31 pm
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I'm not surprised this decision is being made now. The race is only 2
1/2 months away.


  34.   Anon posted:
  12.08.2020 - 3:43 pm
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Assuming there's no practice/qualifying for this event, do we know what
the starting lineup formula will be? Do they plan on using last year's
points in setting the lineup for the first few races?

If they do not revert to last year's points in helping set the lineup,
the starting grid for this race could be VERY interesting considering it
would be based solely on the Daytona 500 finishing order, plus fastest
laps (which traditionally the slower teams catch the draft for a lap and
run fast laps). As much fun an opening lap that would likely be from a
chaos perspective, I hope they will be reverting to last year's points
in the formula.


  35.   Corey posted:
  12.08.2020 - 4:37 pm
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NASCAR officially announced that the Daytona Road Course will replace
Fontana on the schedule. This comes with a few alterations.

Teams will stay in Daytona after the 500 and run the Road Course the
following weekend.

Homestead which had been scheduled then will be pushed back a week to
what was Fontana's slot.

The truck race which had been scheduled for Homestead will now take
place at Daytona. After Daytona, Cup and Xfinity will make their way to
Homestead.


  36.   Corey posted:
  12.08.2020 - 4:41 pm
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To clarify, all three series are running the road course during Feb19-21.
Homestead for Cup and Xfinity will be Feb 27-28.


  37.   PucciMan posted:
  12.08.2020 - 6:05 pm
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@36 They couldn't just add another truck race to the schedule despite
Homestead sucks.


  38.   TotallyNot52 posted:
  12.08.2020 - 7:47 pm
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@37 TV contracts probably only allow for a specific amount of races.
Adding another race would likely mean its on tape delay and NASCAR
probably didn't see it being a monetary gain if it isn't live.


  39.   Canadianfan posted:
  01.22.2021 - 6:00 pm
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From Bob Pockrass:

NASCAR will use the low downforce (and high horsepower-750hp) package it
uses at all road courses for both the Busch Clash and the Daytona road
course points race. Last year, it used high downforce for the Daytona
road course race.


  40.   TheDewCrew posted:
  02.10.2021 - 2:01 pm
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Last night NASCAR hit on the package. Phenomenal Busch Clash put on last
night


  41.   Canadianfan posted:
  02.16.2021 - 10:15 pm
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After the problem with drivers cutting the track, NASCAR is adding
turtles to the bus stop to prevent drivers from cutting the track.
Hamlin posted a photo of them on twitter laying concrete just outside of
the rumble strips.


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