Daytona International Speedway Tag

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor At a track where he had triumphed 17 times over the course of his career, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. came into Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona looking to put some of his restrictor plate magic to good use and try to win one more time on the 2.5-mile track, but the stars just didn’t align for Earnhardt as two crashes would relegate him to a 32nd place finish. After two straight top-10 finishes in the races leading into Daytona, followed up by a poleRead More

By: Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – In a wild race that ended more than 21 hours after it started, William Byron won his second NASCAR XFINITY Series event in seven days, taking the checkered flag in overtime in Saturday’s weather-delayed Coca-Cola Firecracker 250 at Daytona International Speedway. Byron took the lead from Joey Logano on Lap 98 of a scheduled 100, when off-center contact from Byron’s front bumper sent Logano’s No. 22 Ford plowing through the infield grass below the backstretch. “I was just trying to pushRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer  For the first time in his NASCAR Xfinity Series career, Jeb Burton earned a top five finish. Like his teammate Dakoda Armstrong, and fellow competitor David Starr, he scored his best career finish at Daytona International Speedway, finishing fourth in the Coca-Cola Firecracker 250. All of this comes even though Burton is not running a full season, his last start coming at Bristol Motor Speedway back in April in the No. 24 Estes Express Lines Toyota Camry. Burton squeezed through ‘The Big One’ with twoRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer For the second week in a row Dakoda Armstrong scores not only a top five finish, but improves his career best NASCAR Xfinity Series finish. Last week at Iowa Speedway, Armstrong tied his career best finish, fifth. This weekend at Daytona International Speedway, he survived ‘The Big One’ on his way to finishing third in the No. 28 WinField United Toyota Camry. Not only did Armstrong earn his best career finish in the Coca-Cola Firecracker 250, but he also earned stage points for just theRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer With Aric Almirola still sidelined from a back injury suffered at Kansas Speedway, Casey Mears will pilot the No. 98 Fresh From Florida Ford Mustang at Daytona International Speedway. Mears is coming off a 21st place finish at Pocono Raceway three weeks ago. Mears brings his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series experience to Biagi DenBeste Racing and the Coca-Cola Firecracker 250 as he slides into the same Mustang that has won two of the last three restrictor plate races in the NASCAR Xfinity Series withRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor The 1998 Pepsi 400 was scheduled to be a monumental mark for NASCAR’s crown jewel track, Daytona International Speedway, as the track’s July 4th weekend race would be run under the lights for the very first time. However, a devastating wildfire that had swept through Central Florida around that weekend, destroying 126 homes and charring 500,000 acres, forced the race to be postponed to mid-October, making it one of the final races of the season. In addition to the race being run under the lightsRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer Entering the Coca-Cola Firecracker 250 at Daytona International Speedway, the 15th race of the season, only three of the NASCAR Xfinity Series regulars (Justin Allgaier, Ryan Reed, and William Byron) have scored victories during the 2017 season. The restrictor plate-style of racing gives more teams a chance at earning a victory and a potential Playoff berth. Elliott Sadler leads the Championship Point standings, despite not scoring a win, he leads with 25 points over his JR Motorsports teammate, Allgaier. The last time the Xfinity SeriesRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor As expected, Kyle Busch’s No. 18 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series team was handed a penalty on Wednesday for unsecured lugnuts found at the conclusion of last Sunday’s race at Sonoma Raceway. Following his fifth place finish in the Toyota/Save Mart 350, two lugnuts were found to be improperly installed on Busch’s Toyota, bringing with it a one race suspension and a $20,000 fine for interim crew chief Ben Beshore. Beshore has been serving as Busch’s crew chief for the past three weeks as hisRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Following last Sunday’s road course race at Sonoma Raceway, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads back to where it all began, Daytona International Speedway, for this weekend’s 58th running of the Coke Zero 400, the third restrictor plate race of the season. From 1959 until 1987, the 160 lap, 400 mile shootout at the World Center of Racing, then called the Firecracker 400, was held on July 4th, even if the holiday fell in the middle of the week. Beginning in 1988, the raceRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After losing a left rear wheel in last Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover, Kyle Busch’s No. 18 team was handed a stiff penalty from NASCAR on Wednesday, which will leave Busch without his crew chief and two pit crew members for the next four races. Just 19 laps into the AAA 400 at Dover, Busch made his way down pit road for routine service under caution, but that’s when everything went wrong for his Joe Gibbs Racing team. Before any ofRead More