NASCAR: 5 things for new fans to know for the Daytona 500

New NASCAR fans Daytona 500 guide: No. 2 – Team and manufacturer ties

When the drivers are on the track, they will take all the help they can get when it comes to drafting. However, the drivers prefer a drafting partner with whom they are familiar. This often means that they will search for teammates. This will not only help the drivers feel more at ease, but it will make the team owners happy as well.

There are three car manufacturers in NASCAR today: Chevrolet, Ford, and Toyota. On long tracks such as this one where drafting is so important, pitting is a big decision. If you are the only driver to pit, you may not be able to catch the draft again. Teams know this risk and coordinate with other teams to make their pit stops together.

If we get green flag pit stops on Sunday, you will see each of the three manufactures come in at different times so that they will have drafting partners when they leave.

This effort needs to be coordinated to perfection for drivers and teams to stay on pace. This was obvious last year when the Toyota cars were just a little too separated in their pit stops and could not effectively draft together, losing them valuable track position at the end of the race and arguably costing them a shot at the win.

Expect to see the three different manufacturers coordinate pit stops throughout the race on Sunday!