DAYTONA BEACH — And here we go.
The stock-car portion of Speedweeks at Daytona International Speedway starts in earnest when ARCA takes to the 2.5-mile tri-oval for practice Friday morning and then qualifies in the afternoon.
The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series teams will report for duty on Saturday for three practice sessions, one dedicated to the drivers in Sunday’s Advance Auto Parts Clash.
The ARCA Lucas Oil 200 will go green late Saturday afternoon. [...]
DAYTONA BEACH — And here we go.
The stock-car portion of Speedweeks at Daytona International Speedway starts in earnest when ARCA takes to the 2.5-mile tri-oval for practice Friday morning and then qualifies in the afternoon.
The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series teams will report for duty on Saturday for three practice sessions, one dedicated to the drivers in Sunday’s Advance Auto Parts Clash.
The ARCA Lucas Oil 200 will go green late Saturday afternoon.
The racing program ramps up fast and then ends quickly because after Sunday’s Clash and Daytona 500 qualifying, the track is quiet for three consecutive days.
But there are plenty of things to look for as Speedweeks picks up where it left off with the Rolex 24 At Daytona. Here are five things to watch.
Ride height
NASCAR eliminated ride height from the Cup Series in 2014, with the exception of Daytona and Talladega Superspeedway. Last season, the cars had to have a ground clearance of 4.25 inches after qualifying or a race. This time around, there is no ride-height rule, which means the Cup cars will be hugging the asphalt and going much faster. NASCAR may have to slow things down after observing these cars in a practice draft. “It’s going to change a lot of things, not only the way we race in a pack but to the way the cars handle and the way we make speed in our race cars,” driver Joey Logano said.
Camaro debut
Last year, Toyota had the debut of its 2018 Camry in NASCAR. This year Chevrolet is switching from the SS to the Camaro, which has racy lines and lineage. The car has tested well and Chevrolet teams are excited to see how it performs at Daytona. “The effort has been massive to get this right and be as good as we can be,” Chevy driver Jimmie Johnson said. “But with testing being so minimal, for myself there's going to be an adaptation period. I need to understand the side force, how hard I can lean on it.”
New faces
There are several fresh faces in the Cup Series garage area this season, including two new drivers at mighty Hendrick Motorsports. William Byron will take the wheel of the No. 24 Chevy while Alex Bowman, 24, will fill the seat once occupied by Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the No. 88 machine. Byron, 20, has no Cup starts, but achieved greatness in every series he has run the last three seasons. Bubba Wallace, 24, will be at the wheel of the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevy. They will join a slew of 20-something drivers pouring into NASCAR’s premier series.
Pole streaks
This is a unique situation. The No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet has sat on the Daytona 500 pole position the last three years. Jeff Gordon captured the top spot in his last 500 start. Chase Elliott took the wheel and nabbed the pole in 2016 and again in 2017. Elliott and the No. 24 have gone their separate ways. Elliott is now piloting the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports car and newcomer William Byron is in the No. 24. Only three drivers have won the pole three consecutive years, Fireball Roberts (1960-62), Bill Elliott (1985-87) and Ken Schrader (1988-90).
Danica’s last ride
In the days leading up to last year’s season finale Cup Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Danica Patrick said she would end her career with the “Danica Double.” She will compete only in the Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500 this season, and then hang up her helmet. The car she’s driving (No. 7 Chevrolet) has a charter, so she will make the race regardless of qualifying results. “I keep saying, I couldn’t have written a better story about how this would all fall into place; going with the flow is working out beautifully,” Patrick said.