What drivers are saying about the Daytona Road Course

With no practice or qualifying ahead of Sunday's GoBowling 235 (3 p.m. ET on NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), many NASCAR Cup Series drivers will sail into Turn 1 for the first time on the Daytona International Speedway Road Course. With the unknowns plentiful and Kevin Harvick set to start on pole, see what competitors are saying ahead of the historic day on the 3.61-mile road course.

Chase Elliott

"I think this weekend is going to be a big-time challenge for everyone. I think the one guy that I look at that really has a leg up is Kyle (Busch), having come off that 24-hour event (Rolex 24) this year. In fact, I think if we all knew that we were going to be doing this road course, you probably would have seen all of us trying to get in that 24-Hour race this year to go and do it. But you never know with things like that. I think it's going to be a challenge. I think it's going to be a fun challenge for everyone. I've never entered a race like that where you literally just have no idea what to expect."

Kevin Harvick

"I think me leading everybody into Turn 1 at Daytona could be interesting because I have no freaking clue where I'm going as we go down there. Most everybody in the field is the same way. We'll prepare the best that we can and hope that we can make it around the first lap with all the wheels still headed in the right direction."

Jimmie Johnson

“I am so excited for this weekend at Daytona. I have a lot of reps and a couple thousand miles on this on this track from competing in the seven Rolex races I’ve been able to compete in, and I also did a July 4th six-hour race there – so bring it on."

Matt Kenseth

"A lot of people have never raced there before. Some of us have raced there, but it’s been many, many years ago, and a lot of things have changed since then; plus, a different chicane coming off Turn 4. So, we’ve been using the Chevrolet simulator a lot just to go out and get some reference points and try to get somewhat of a feel for it."

William Byron

"Hopefully we can go on to the road course at Daytona and keep building that point buffer. I think we're really good at road courses so hopefully we can run well there despite it being an unknown. I'm looking forward to it, though, and the challenge it will bring. I will definitely be doing a lot of iRacing this week to get ready for it."

Martin Truex Jr.

"I've only been on that track once. It was back in I think '04 when I ran the IROC series, we raced there. I didn't do very good. I wasn't very good at it then. Obviously, those cars are quite a bit different than what we have. ... I know iRacing has the track, so get on there, get familiarized, hopefully be able to learn a little bit from that. Hopefully, the team will prepare a great car. I know they'll prepare a great car. Hopefully we can have a car that drives the way I need it to. That's really the key. I enjoy road courses. I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be wild, for sure. A lot of question marks. Should be fun, as well."

Brad Keselowski

"Yeah, those cars are so much different that the Team Penske IMSA drivers are on that I'm not sure that there's anything I can really take away from that. You know, I think in some forms, we're all expecting it to rain because we're going to run the race in Florida at 3:00 or 4:00 in August. I think it's like a 99.9 percent chance it'll rain, and there's no simulator and no practice that simulates that."

Michael McDowell

"It's a big weekend because only a handful of NASCAR Cup Series drivers have experience on this course and I'm one of them. I've been fortunate enough to compete in seven 24 Hours of Daytona races over the years, so it's going to be a lot of fun to unload and see what we have. There's no practice or qualifying, but everyone at Front Row Motorsports has put a lot of work into this weekend and we know that it's a good chance for us to potentially steal a win and lock ourselves into the playoffs."

Kurt Busch

“I think the fun factor this weekend has got everybody's anxiety level up; but also the challenge that's right in front of us because it's basically a wild card-style race, where you could see a driver and a team that don't normally make the playoffs, punch their ticket."

Alex Bowman

"You have 40 race car drivers who are going to try and keep it tame, but it will probably get pretty wild. The Roval is kind of its own animal. It gets pretty wild, and I think we'll have more of that at the Daytona Road Course. It's so different than anything else we've done. No one has many laps there; a couple of guys have some races. But for the most part we have no laps there. Going in there without practice is going to be pretty wild."

Christopher Bell

"It's going to be very different going to a road course that I've never been at and the majority of the field hasn't been at and no practice before they drop the green flag, it's going to be pretty crazy. I think it will be calm to start while everyone gets their bearings but at the end when people get confident it will be interesting to see."

Bubba Wallace

"I don't know if any of us are going to feel like we're ready to race. So, it's going to be exciting for sure. I'm glad I'm not on the front row for this one to drive off in there and find my marks. And, I don't want to be like Brad at the Roval two years ago and overshoot the corner. So, we just have to be mindful."

John Hunter Nemechek

"It'll be interesting for sure to head to Daytona this week to race on the road course. Growing up watching the 24 hours, I think it'll be really cool to finally race there as a driver. There might be some drivers who have the advantage of running there previously, but I still think it'll be kind of a wild card for everyone in a Cup car."