When the coronavirus pandemic uprooted NASCAR's schedule, the sport pivoted to different tracks, new weekends and doubleheader races. The road course at Daytona International Speedway was substituted for the one at Watkins Glen International for a first-time event at the Florida track without allowing teams any practice.
Despite drivers' "anxiety" around the unknowns prior to the race, Sunday's Go Bowling 235 went off without a hitch. Only one caution for an incident was called during the 65-lap event, and that was only for Kyle Busch's tire trouble which didn't impact other cars. There was bumping and rubbing, but there were no major wrecks Sunday.
"I was a little surprised that the first maybe four or five laps weren't potentially a little messier than that," NASCAR senior vice president of competition Scott Miller said. "Just amazing what we saw."
Second-place finisher Denny Hamlin said he spoke with the three other drivers leading the field at the green flag _ Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch _ to determine where they would brake before the first turn. Hamlin said they didn't want to have any secrets, nor did they want to "look like a bunch of dummies there in Turn 1."
"We made sure we kept it clean to start," Hamlin said. "And then you can get your bearings about you after you run a few laps."
Eventual winner Chase Elliott said before the race that he expected the course to be "a big-time challenge for everyone." Instead, Elliott careened to a stage 1 win, and led more than half the laps for his second official race win of the season. It was the No. 9 driver's third road course win in a row after he finished first at the Charlotte ROVAL and Watkins Glen last year.
"Obviously, Watkins Glen has been good to us," Elliott said. "But I was just really happy that we replaced a road course with a road course and didn't just pile something else on the schedule to check a box."
Third-place finisher Truex Jr. said the race was more "fun" than he anticipated.
"I thought we've seen a good race," Truex Jr. said. "And obviously not a ton of cautions, not a ton of crashes and guys doing crazy stuff. I thought the race went really well. The racing was good."
Truex Jr. added that he felt like he was able to make passes of slower cars, which helped put on a better show, and that he would be "totally fine" if the course were added to NASCAR's schedule next year.
The No. 19 driver also mentioned an issue that emerged: The Florida coast weather. Temperatures in Daytona Beach reached over 90 degrees (heat index was 103 degrees), and the inside of the cars are normally an additional 30 degrees hotter.
Multiple Truck Series drivers were evaluated in the track's infield care center for heat exhaustion before the Cup race started. No. 27 Cup driver J.J. Yeley exited his car early after his in-car air conditioner unit broke early in the second stage. Yeley said after the race that he'd thrown up "plenty of times in the car in (his) helmet" and was able to endure it, but Sunday's heat took him out. He was replaced by Rick Ware Racing driver Bayley Currey.
"Between the temperatures in the car and just the focus that was needed here today here at Daytona, I just was really struggling," Yeley said on his Instagram after the race. "And I can't believe in my 16-year time in NASCAR, I've never not finished a race because of fatigue."
NBC's broadcast reported that a pit crew member and a mechanic on the No. 96 team of Daniel Suarez visited the infield care center mid-race due to heat exhaustion.
The broadcast also reported that drivers' heart rates were reaching up to 180 beats per minute during competition. For reference, the American Heart Association recommends a maximum target heart rate of 10 beats per minute lower than that during vigorous exercise for an active 20-year-old.
Both fortunately and unfortunately, a 30-minute break came in the final stage of the race due to a lightning strike in the area _ also a product of racing on the Florida-Atlantic coast in late summer. The race went red and drivers exited their cars, which Truex Jr. said felt like "air conditioning."
"I think probably without that break for lightning, a lot of guys wouldn't have made it," Truex Jr. said. "It's so hot in these things. I don't know why we're running a right-side window at a road course. There's just no airflow."
Truex Jr. questioned the air cooling innovation in the cars ("I just think there's something we could do to make these things a little bit cooler"), but said he still felt good post-race and was able to hold his own.
NASCAR and its drivers called the Daytona road course a success, and Miller gave the event an "A" grade. The race was entertaining and surprisingly caution-free and perhaps deserves consideration for future series. Still, if the course finds a permanent spot on the 2021 or 2022 schedule, it shouldn't run in August in place of balmy Watkins Glen, N.Y., which felt 14 degrees cooler Sunday.
Even Elliott's crew chief Alan Gustafson, who won at his Florida home track Sunday evening, conceded that Watkins Glen has its perks.
"You still have reasonably cool nights," Gustafson said. "And it's just lush and green and beautiful."
NASCAR made a practice-free Daytona road course work this weekend thanks to rigorous simulator work, a new chicane and cooperation between drivers. The race wasn't too costly in terms of equipment. To keep it that way in terms of driver health, the timing of the next Daytona road race could use some tweaking.
