NASCAR: The key Daytona 500 schedule changes
By Asher Fair
This year’s schedule leading up to the Daytona 500 is a bit different than it has been in recent NASCAR Cup Series seasons.
The start of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season is just one week from today, but the schedule leading up to the season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway looks a bit different than it has in years past.
This year’s Daytona Speedweeks presented by AdventHealth schedule is a condensed one and in no way interferes with this evening’s Super Bowl LV between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
In recent years, single-car qualifying led things off on the Sunday before the Daytona 500, which would be today, and the Busch Clash followed suit later in the afternoon.
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That isn’t the case this year. The only major sporting event later today is in Florida, but it is at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, not at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, and it’s the actual Super Bowl, not the “Super Bowl of Stock Car Racing”.
This year, the Busch Clash is scheduled to lead things off, but on Tuesday, February 9. Additionally, the exhibition race is to be held at the 14-turn, 3.61-mile (5.810-kilometer) road course as opposed to the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked oval.
Single-car qualifying is then scheduled to take place on Wednesday, February 10, setting the front row for Sunday’s race itself and the full starting lineups for the Bluegreen Vacations Duels.
The Duels are scheduled to take place on Thursday, February 11, setting the full 40-car starting lineup for the main event from the second row through the 20th row, so there are no changes on that front, and there are no changes when it comes to the race itself, either; the 63rd annual Daytona 500 is scheduled to be run on Sunday, February 14.
Be sure not to miss any of the action.
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Single-car qualifying, the Busch Clash and the Bluegreen Vacations Duels are all set to be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1 beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET on their respective dates. The 63rd annual Daytona 500 is set to be broadcast live on Fox beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET.