Posted on by Zack Albert

Justin Allgaier’s season of frustration bubbled over in a post-race rant Saturday after a run-in with veteran AJ Allmendinger in the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ debut at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course.

Allgaier and Allmendinger were both running among the top five in the inaugural UNOH 188 when Allmendinger overshot the entry to Turn 6 on the 3.61-mile circuit with three laps to go. His lock-up forced the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet into Allgaier’s No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevy, looping him out of the groove.

RELATED: Race results | Weekend schedule

Allmendinger drove on to finish fourth. Allgaier righted his car and took ninth place, but he marched over to confront Allmendinger after the checkered flag.

Allmendinger tried to soothe the situation by accepting fault, but Allgaier stayed on the offensive, saying, “That’s just dumb.” Allmendinger countered: “It was a mistake, and I’ve seen you make a lot of them.”

Once the trading of words ended, Allmendinger reiterated he was to blame in their on-track contact.

“I mean, he should be mad. That’s my fault,” Allmendinger told NBC Sports. “It wasn’t anything intentional, but that was my fault. I got in there trying to get under (Andy) Lally, and honestly I didn’t even drive it in that hard. I had the Lally pass done, and as soon as I touched the brake pedal, it started wheel-hopping, and as soon as it did, I was trying to clear out of the way, like I was trying to turn right to get away from the 7 and miss him. I got into him, so he should be mad, and I apologized to his race team.

“He says I’ve wrecked him a lot in the past. I’m not really sure of that. If that’s the case, I’m sorry.”

Allgaier’s remarks stemmed not only from what was an unforced error on Allmendinger’s part, but also a 2020 season that has been among the most irksome of his career. Though he’s well within the comfort zone in the Xfinity Series playoff picture thanks to 10 top-10 finishes in 19 races, he has yet to visit Victory Lane this year. Adding to the frustration level, five of his races have been cut short by crashes, mostly of the late-race variety.

Allgaier’s road-race start didn’t end early Saturday, but the sting was still painful.

“Getting wrecked, plain and simple,” Allgaier told NBCSN. “He just made a dumb, dumb decision. Obviously I’ve not seen a replay, but it’s pretty easy to tell what happened. I don’t know if we could’ve held him off at the end of the race there, but he just drove in there and cleaned me out. Really proud of everybody on this Brandt Agriculture Camaro. We weren’t the best today, the guys did a really good job and made big gains all day, and the pit crew did a great job of getting track position. Spotters did awesome, just getting me in the right spots.”

WATCH: Allgaier: ‘Same guy wrecks you over and over’

Allgaier then paused, gave a half-chuckle and shook his head.

“2020 has been just like that right there, and I’m over it,” he said. “It’s not the first time AJ’s wrecked me, and it’s just hard when the same guy wrecks you over and over again.”

Posted on by Staff Report

There’s a first time for everything.

The NASCAR Cup Series will embark on its maiden voyage Sunday on the historic Daytona International Speedway Road Course, bringing yet another set of twists and turns (14 of them, in fact) to an already unpredictable 2020 season.

Did we mention they’ll be taking the green flag with no practice or qualifying, too? That’s enough to add to the intrigue of what is bound to be a wild weekend, but if that wasn’t enough, the playoffs are right around the corner, with plenty of implications on the line this weekend.

NASCAR.com has you covered for this premier event from every conceivable angle. Read our full coverage below to get ready for the Go Bowling 235 (3 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, Sirius XM NASCAR).

RELATED: Daytona Road Course starting lineup | Ways to follow

Race info

Daytona

Key story lines: What can we expect heading into Turn 1, how big is Rolex 24 experience and more | 📖: Read more

Dillon out: Austin Dillon self-reports a positive COVID-19 test and will miss the race with Kaz Grala set to fill the seat | 📖: Read more

Get caught up: Daytona Road Course 101: TV times, key statistics, revised procedures and more | 📖: Read more

Paint Scheme Preview: See the fresh looks for this weekend’s races | 🎨: See the schemes

Turn, turn, turn: Daytona Road Course turn-by-turn analysis | 📖: Read more

Pick a lane, bub: Where do you run on the Daytona road course if it rains? | 🎥: Watch the video

The history is here: Excitement builds as NASCAR prepares for legendary Daytona Road Course | 📖: Read more

Just the pits: Daytona Road Course NASCAR Cup Series pit stall assignments for Sunday’s race | 🚗: See pit road

And starting up front…: Kevin Harvick nabs Busch Pole Award for Daytona Road Course debut | 📖: Read more

Was that chicane always there?: Daytona Road Course to have chicane added; race lengths also announced | 📖: Read more

 

What drivers are saying

Daytona

Eyes on the road: GCOE: Ryan Blaney eyes Daytona’s road course | 🎥: Watch the video

Super Mario: Witness history: Mario Andretti previews Daytona’s road course | 🎥: Watch the video

Matty D-aytona?: Matt DiBenedetto brings passion for road-course racing to Daytona | 📖: Read more

Knaus knows best: Chad Knaus: Daytona road course presents ‘difficult challenge’ | 🎥: Watch the video 

Who said what now?: What drivers are saying about the Daytona Road Course | 📖: Read more

Watch and learn: Michael McDowell teaches us how to drive Daytona’s road course | 🎥: Watch the video

What’s in a name?: @nascarcasm and Steve Luvender rename the Daytona Road Course turns | 📖: Read more

Back of the pack?:  Bubba Wallace on Daytona Road Course: ‘Glad I’m not on the front row’ | 🎥: Watch the video

 

Race analysis

Gettyimages 1205347639

Who are the favorites?: Six candidates to win at Daytona Road Course | 📝: See the list

Wild Bill for the upset?: Fantasy Live: Can William Byron upset the field? | 🎥: Watch the video

Power Rankings: Bad Luck Blaney struck again, but the speed is blatant | 📈: See the ranks

Not their first rodeo: History of NASCAR drivers in the Rolex 24 at Daytona | 📝: See the list 

Who’s up for it?: Chase Elliott, other Cup Series regulars brace for ‘big-time challenge’ at Daytona Road Course | 📖: Read more

Go back in time: NASCAR’s short but rich history on Daytona Road Course | 🎥: Watch the video

Feels like the first time: Memorable and notable NASCAR firsts before Daytona Road Course races | 📖: Read more

Fastlane forecast: Breaking down the plays to make in Fantasy Live for Sunday | 📖: Read more

On the bubble: Where drivers closest to cutline stand before Daytona Road Course | 📝: See the list

Analyze this: Examining the NASCAR Finish Line Groups 2 and 3 for the Daytona Road Course | 📖: Read more

That is the question: Finish Line: To play or not to play? Chase Elliott vs. Martin Truex Jr. | 🎥: Watch the video

Picking props: PJ Walsh of The Action Network is in on this bet | 📖:Read more

Well that’s odd: NASCAR betting: Odds, lines for Daytona Road Course | 📝: See the list

Playoff picture: How the postseason looks with four races to go | 📝: See the projected seeding

Posted on by Holly Cain

Austin Cindric’s summer of dominance continued Saturday afternoon in the inaugural UNOH 188 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course.

Cindric, 22, of Mooresville, N.C., earned his fifth victory in the last six races, his No. 22 Team Penske Ford pulling away to a hefty 7.108-second win over Brandon Jones’ No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. That impressive ultimate margin of victory, however, is not indicative of the action-packed debut on Daytona’s famed road course.

RELATED: Official results | Weekend schedule

Noah Gragson recovered from an off-course excursion early in the race while leading the field to finish third and maintain a perfect record of top-10 finishes on every Xfinity Series road-course event he has competed in. AJ Allmendinger and Andy Lally – both road-course experts – finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

Jeremy Clement, Sunoco rookies Riley Herbst and Harrison Burton, veteran Justin Allgaier and rookie Myatt Snider rounded out the top 10 in well-earned, masterful drives to the finish.

Allgaier and Allmendinger had words on pit road after the race. Allmendinger spun Allgaier out of a top-five finish in the closing laps and was apologetic. Allgaier, one of the series-best road-course racers, approached Allmendinger after the race and shared his displeasure.

MORE: Allgaier, Allmendinger all fired up

With no practice or qualifying and most of the competitors in the race completely new to the 3.61-mile, 14-turn course, the race was a steady dose of high-speed how-do-you-do. From overly ambitious restarts to simply missing corners while figuring out this brand-new competitive experience, there was action from green to checkered flags.

“I’m not sure anyone was really all that happy with their race cars you know, unfortunately I have the perspective of driving really fast race cars at this track,” said Cindric, who has competed in three Rolex 24 at Daytona IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship races on the road course.

“It’s a great credit to my team, MoneyLion and the guys. … That’s five wins on the year obviously back-to-back now. I didn’t feel like I drove my best today but we executed there at the end when it counts and that’s what makes these races so difficult to win.”

Chris Graythen | Getty Images
Chris Graythen | Getty Images

Cindric, who led 21 of the 52 total laps, led the opening 16 laps of the race to earn the Stage 1 win and bookended the work by leading the last five laps to claim his seventh career Xfinity Series victory. His five wins (and a second place) in the last six races ties a record held by the legendary Sam Ard set back in 1983.

Cindric’s chief rival – as has been the case all season – was fellow Ford driver Chase Briscoe, who led a race-best 26 laps. Cindric and Briscoe put on a master class of road-course dueling particularly in the second stage, with Briscoe, also a five-race winner in 2020, earning the green-and-white checkered flag in that sprint.

Their battle – at times contentious, with Cindric tossing a water bottle toward Briscoe’s car under caution – continued late in the race until Briscoe was collected in a multi-car restart melee with eight laps remaining. Briscoe’s No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford suffered too much damage to continue, and he was scored 29th – his worst finish of the year.

RELATED: Late restart turns to chaos | Cindric, Briscoe battle it out for Stage 2 win

Similarly, another two of the Xfinity Series championship contenders, Kaulig Racing teammates Justin Haley and Ross Chastain simultaneously suffered race-ending issues – Haley with an off-course excursion and Chastain, a mechanical issue. They finished 36th (Chastain) and 38th (Haley) – their worst finishes of the season as well.

With seven races remaining to set the 12-driver Xfinity Series playoff field, Cindric, Briscoe, Gragson, Jones, Burton and Haley have assured their chances at a title with victories.

Brandon Brown, who suffered a tough 34th-place finish, holds the final 12th-place transfer position in the driver standings but is only 28 points up on Saturday’s sixth-place finisher Jeremy Clements in 13th.

The race provided a preview for Sunday’s doubleheader of Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series and Cup Series events, with the Xfinity Series field encountering trouble spots multiple times in the two chicanes. Turn 1 also proved difficult in late-race restarts with multiple tie-ups and instances of drivers running wide as they dove into the infield section.

The race was delayed by one hour, 50 minutes by lightning strikes just before pre-race ceremonies. When the race did start at 5:09 p.m. ET, NASCAR officials deemed the track damp, giving teams the option to add rain tires after the late-afternoon showers.

The Xfinity Series is set for a pair of races next weekend at Dover International Speedway, Saturday at 12:30 p.m. ET and Sunday at 1:30 p.m. ET. Both races are scheduled to be broadcast on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Note: Post-race inspection in the NASCAR Xfinity Series garage was completed with no issues.

Contributing: Staff reports

Posted on by PJ Walsh

The Action Network specializes in providing sports betting insights/analytics and is a content partner with NASCAR. Check out more NASCAR betting analysis here.

Sunday’s Go Bowling 235 (3 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) on the road course at Daytona International Speedway will be the first NASCAR Cup Series race on this layout, making it very difficult from a handicapping perspective.

We have no historical data to analyze and don’t truly know how closely this track compares to other road courses on the Cup Series schedule, like Sonoma Raceway, Watkins Glen International and the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval.

Because of this, it’s reasonable to assume this race will be more wide open than most, paving the way for longer shots down the odds board to outperform expectations.

After looking at general road-course performance, experience and a handful of other factors, here’s one driver worth betting for a top-10 finish at Daytona.

I will be on the road Sunday morning heading to the great sports betting state of Pennsylvania, so be sure to follow me on Twitter (@PJWalsh24) for any bets I add leading up to green flag.

NASCAR at Daytona Road Course Odds, Betting Pick

Michael McDowell (+340) for a Top-10 Finish

Randomness is the driving theme of my betting strategy this weekend. Will it result in a surprise winner? Who really knows. However, uncertainty surrounding what the racing will look like makes taking cracks at some long shots a reasonable approach, especially in top-10 props.

Yes, I am throwing a few bucks on Michael McDowell to win in case this race does really get sideways, but the No. 34 Ford sneaking into a top 10 is much more probable, yet still offers nice value.

McDowell comes from a road-racing background and actually has five previous starts in the Rolex 24, a 24-hour road-course race on the Daytona Road Course.

Additionally, McDowell has the 11th-best average finish over the two Cup Series races run on the Charlotte Roval, which is likely the best comp on the current Cup Series schedule.

In McDowell, we have a driver with extensive road-racing experience, including on the Daytona Road Course, and with a top-15 average finish on the road course at Charlotte.

He’ll be starting deep in 30th place, but that’s obviously built into this price, and for all the reasons above, I’m aggressively betting McDowell for a top-10 finish at +340.

[Bet now at BetMGM. CO, NJ, IN and WV only.]

Posted on by Staff Report

Austin Dillon self-reported a positive COVID-19 test to Richard Childress Racing on Saturday, a development that will keep him out of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course.

Dillon, driver of the No. 3 Chevrolet, is self-quarantining, the team said. RCR has named Kaz Grala as his replacement this weekend for Sunday’s Go Bowling 235 (3 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM), the first Cup Series race on the 3.61-mile oval and road-course layout.

Dillon’s wife Whitney and son Ace remain healthy and symptom-free, according to a team statement.

RELATED: Schedule for Daytona Road Course | Lineup for Sunday’s race

Dillon may be eligible to return to competition if he receives two negative COVID-19 test results, from tests taken at least 24 hours apart. He must also receive written clearance to resume racing activity from his personal physician. If Dillon is unable to produce two negative tests within the 10-day period for his initial positive test, his return status may be reviewed by a NASCAR consulting physician.

Dillon qualified for the NASCAR Playoffs with a victory July 19 at Texas Motor Speedway. Once the team requests it, Dillon will receive a medical waiver to ease the requirement that he compete in every race to retain his postseason eligibility.

PHOTOS: Austin Dillon through the years

Dillon, the grandson of team owner Richard Childress, is currently in his seventh full season of Cup Series competition. The 30-year-old driver has three premier-series wins, including the 2017 Coca-Cola 600 and the 2018 Daytona 500 and has won championships in the Xfinity Series (2013) and Gander Trucks (2011).

“RCR takes the safety of our employees, fellow competitors, fans, partners and outside vendors seriously,” the team said in a statement. “Based upon recommendations outlined by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), NASCAR and our health partners at Wake-Forest Baptist Health, RCR has enacted procedures and safety protocols designed to minimize the risk of COVID-19 exposure and spread. These guidelines were developed in close consultation with a panel of medical experts with broad experience in infectious diseases, many of whom have been on the front line in treating COVID-19 patients across the country. We will continue to adhere to these guidelines in order to protect the health and safety of our employees and their families, and our business partners.”

Grala will be making his Cup Series debut in Sunday’s 65-lap event. Since its a driver change, Grala will drop to the rear during pace laps instead of starting 10th as Dillon would have. The 21-year-old Grala has entered two Xfinity Series races for RCR this season, matching his career-best with a fourth-place finish last weekend at Road America. Grala also has experience on the Daytona Road Course layout, twice sharing driving duties in a Lamborghini for Change Racing in IMSA’s Rolex 24 (2016-17).

Grala’s lone national-series win was a historic one, also at Daytona International Speedway. He prevailed from the pole position, driving a GMS Racing entry to victory in the Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series’ 2017 opener to become the 2.5-mile speedway’s youngest winner at 18 years, 1 month and 26 days old.

Rules for the weekend stipulate that no driver may compete in multiple national-series races on the Daytona Road Course.

Posted on by Press Release

CHARLOTTE, NC (Aug. 13, 2020) – With the first NASCAR Cup Series race at the all-new Daytona International Speedway Road Course set to unfold on Sunday, one of the many tools that Team Chevy drivers used to prepare is Chevrolet Racing’s Driver-in-the-Loop (DiL) simulator, located just outside of Charlotte, North Carolina.

Much more than just a game, Chevy’s DiL is a proven, high fidelity and very immersive system used by professional race teams, which gives a visual of a specific track and then replicates how that track feels to the driver.

In Team Chevy spirit, Hendrick Motorsports drivers Alex Bowman — driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE — and William Byron — driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, worked with Jordan Taylor, who campaigns the No. 3 Corvette C8.R with teammate Antonio Garcia for Corvette Racing, this week at the Chevy DiL to discuss the completely new challenge that awaits.

Although the upcoming 65-lap Go Bowling 235 will run on the same road course layout as the Rolex 24 At Daytona, North America’s premier race for sports cars, it will feature an added twist. The traditional ribbon of asphalt out of NASCAR Turn Four will sport a new chicane that transforms the design into a 14-turn, 3.61-mile, high-banked tri-oval/infield road course, which is unique to all motorsports. With NASCAR having curtailed practice sessions during the COVID-19 pandemic, preparation is key.

“Jordan really helped with entry to Turn 5,” Bowman said. “His entry in there was quite different than how I was approaching it. Some of the braking zones were a little bit different. Then some line stuff and some rain stuff as well. Having his knowledge is super helpful. He’s a really good guy and I really appreciate his help. The rain will be the biggest thing. I have absolutely no clue what I’m doing in the rain, so being able to have an idea of what to expect there is a big help.”

Bowman, with two career Cup Series wins to his credit and who formerly served as an integral part of the simulation and on-track testing programs for Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet, collaborates with Taylor. He and Garcia lead the GT Le Mans (GTLM) category of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with two victories in the new mid-engine Corvette C8.R. Among them was a win at the IMSA WeatherTech 240 at Daytona – the Corvette C8.R’s first win and Corvette Racing’s 100th in IMSA competition.

“When you look at it on a track map, it looks pretty basic but each corner has little tricks that can help you,” Taylor said. “They’re going into this race with zero practice and zero laps on this track, so they need as much preparation as they can get. From my side, I bring some experience from that track that I can give him – little tips that maybe would take them a session or two to figure out. Hopefully they can hit the ground running when they show up for race day.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Joey Logano will pilot a Bobby Allison-inspired throwback paint scheme for the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on Sept. 6 (6 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Logano’s No. 22 Ford was unveiled on Team Penske’s social media channels Friday morning. The design pays tribute to the No. 22 Buick that Allison drove during the 1985 NASCAR Cup Series season.

RELATED: Ryan Blaney’s Darlington throwback paint scheme

In 13 career starts at the 1.366-mile South Carolina oval, Logano has earned three top fives and six top-10 finishes.

Posted on by RJ Kraft

NASCAR Finish Line, a free-to-play gaming app from Penn National Gaming, is back with the resumption of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season. Each week, there will be six groups of five drivers for the upcoming race. Users will predict which driver will finish first among each of the six groups and then the overall race winner and second-place finisher for a chance to win $25,000 if all eight scenarios are correctly selected. Last weekend’s two races at Michigan International Speedway produced a jackpot winner in each race.

RELATED: Download NASCAR Finish Line

The second of six groups for this Sunday’s race at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course (3 p.m. ET on NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) consists of Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch and Clint Bowyer. The third of six groups consists of Aric Almirola, William Byron, Alex Bowman, Jimmie Johnson and Matt DiBenedetto.

This will be the first Cup race on the 14-turn, 3.61-mile course, so we don’t have past races here to fall back on. Instead, for a stats look at each driver, NASCAR.com has compiled the career percentage of top 10s in road-course starts, the 2019 average finish on road courses, the average finish at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval — the closest comparison run so far — and the average finish in the last five races of 2020 to get a sense of who has been good of late this season.

A point system has been assigned, starting with one point for the best finisher and counting up to five points for the worst finisher. Those numbers were then added up. The lowest total signifies the strongest driver (green), and the highest total represents the weakest driver (red).

GROUP 2

Driver Percentage of top 10s in road course starts 2019 avg. finish on road courses Avg. finish at Charlotte Roval Avg. finish in last five 2020 races Total
Ryan Blaney 60 percent (6 in 10) (1) Avg. finish: 5.3 (1) Avg. finish: 4.5 (2) Avg. finish: 17.8 (5) 9
Joey Logano 46 percent (11 in 24) (4) Avg. finish: 18.7 (5) Avg. finish: 10.0 (3) Avg. finish: 11.0 (3) 15
Brad Keselowski 41 percent (9 in 22) (5) Avg. finish: 10.7 (2) Avg. finish: 18.0 (5) Avg. finish: 10.6 (1) 13
Kurt Busch 53 percent (21 in 40) (3) Avg. finish: 14.3 (4) Avg. finish: 12.5 (4) Avg. finish: 10.8 (2) 13
Clint Bowyer 57 percent (17 in 30) (2) Avg. finish: 11.7 (3) Avg. finish: 3.5 (1) Avg. finish: 15.2 (4) 10

GROUP 3

Driver Percentage of top 10s in road course starts 2019 avg. finish on road courses Avg. finish at Charlotte Roval Avg. finish in last five 2020 races Total
Aric Almirola 11 percent (2 in 19) (5) Avg. finish: 11.7 (3) Avg. finish: 16.5 (4) Avg. finish: 9.0 (1) 13
William Byron 33 percent (2 in 6) (2) Avg. finish: 15.3 (5) Avg. finish: 20.0 (5) Avg. finish: 16.8 (3) 15
Alex Bowman 30 percent (3 in 10) (3) Avg. finish: 10.0 (2) Avg. finish: 3.0 (1) Avg. finish: 22.0 (5) 11
Jimmie Johnson 50 percent (19 in 38) (1) Avg. finish: 13.3 (4) Avg. finish: 8.5 (2) Avg. finish: 18.6 (4) 11
Matt DiBenedetto 17 percent (2 in 12) (4) Avg. finish: 7.0 (1) Avg. finish: 12.0 (3) Avg. finish: 16.2 (2) 10

The stats say the Group 2 pick comes down to Blaney or Bowyer. Bowyer has been wildly inconsistent this year, but road courses have been a strength for him in his career. On the other hand, Blaney won the first race at the Charlotte Roval. In Group 3, it’s a tight battle among DiBenedetto, Johnson and Bowman. The numbers slightly favor DiBenedetto — he was the best in the group in 2019 on road courses and he has finished better of late than the Hendrick Motorsports duo.

Make sure to get your picks for all the groups as well as the first- and second-place finishers in the NASCAR Finish Line app before the race at the Daytona Road Course.

Posted on by Press Release

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Aug. 13) – Today, NASCAR and Verizon, one of NASCAR’s newest Official Partners, paid tribute to frontline healthcare workers at AdventHealth Daytona Beach with a hauler parade and lunch before heading to the Daytona International Speedway for this weekend’s historic events at the DAYTONA Road Course where, for the first time, NASCAR’s top-tier series will compete.

Led by Daytona International Speedway President Chip Wile in the Speedway’s Official Pace Car, the “NASCAR Hauler Salute to Healthcare Heroes Powered by Verizon” featured more than 10 NASCAR industry haulers. These haulers travel to each racetrack across the country, providing the needed supplies and resources that make this sport possible on a weekly basis.

Nascar Hauler Inset

Just ahead of the hauler salute, NASCAR, along with Verizon Business, provided a catered lunch from 4 Rivers Smokehouse Daytona and Jersey Mike’s for more than 750 AdventHealth Daytona Beach employees in the hospital’s Healing Garden.

AdventHealth Daytona Beach is part of AdventHealth, one of the nation’s largest faith-based healthcare systems and the Official Healthcare Partner of Daytona International Speedway.

“This global pandemic has been such a stressful and emotionally difficult time for us all, but today’s parade has been a welcomed moment of joy and cheer,” said Ed Noseworthy, AdventHealth Daytona Beach CEO. “We are so thankful for our friends at NASCAR and the Daytona International Speedway for showing our teams some love and encouragement with this parade, and for Verizon Business for organizing today’s event and generously providing lunch to our entire team. We were thrilled to come together – albeit with masks and at a safe social distance – to celebrate the return to racing!”

“Throughout this pandemic, AdventHealth’s response and heroic efforts have been nothing short of amazing,” said Wile. “With our partners at Verizon, we’re proud to recognize those efforts and salute the heroes who go above and beyond caring for the wellness of our community.”

The schedule for the NASCAR weekend at “The World Center of Racing” will consist of the following:

Fri., Aug. 14 (5 p.m., MAVTV): ARCA Menards Series General Tire 100, at The DAYTONA Road Course

Sat., Aug. 15 (3 p.m., NBCSN): NASCAR Xfinity Series UNOH 188, at The DAYTONA Road Course

Sun., Aug. 16 (12 p.m., FS1): NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Sunoco 159, at The DAYTONA Road Course

Sun., Aug. 16 (3 p.m., NBC): NASCAR Cup Series Go Bowling 235, at The DAYTONA Road Course

A limited number of fans will get the opportunity to see the Go Bowling 235 At The DAYTONA Road Course, along with the Sunoco 159 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series race, on Sunday, Aug. 16. Fans can get tickets, which start at $49 (both races included) for adults and $10 for kids 12 years old and younger, by visiting www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com or calling 1-800-PIT-SHOP.

Posted on by Staff Report

Bubba Wallace announced Friday that delivery service DoorDash would join him as a primary sponsor, appearing for seven races this season as a primary sponsor of the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet.

RELATED: Wallace adds Columbia sponsorship | Silly Season’s key figures

Wallace termed the partnership as a multiyear deal. He broke the news during an appearance on NBC’s Today show.

Bubba Wallace Doordash Scheme

DoorDash will make its debut at NASCAR’s inaugural weekend on the 14-turn, 3.61-mile Daytona International Speedway Road Course, with Wallace driving the No. 43 DoorDash Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE on Aug. 16 (3 p.m. ET on NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). It will be the first of seven NASCAR Cup Series events where DoorDash serves as the team’s primary partner.

DoorDash’s iconic red and white colors will adorn the No. 43 DoorDash Chevrolet at Dover International Speedway, Richmond Raceway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway, Martinsville Speedway and Phoenix Raceway.

“Biggest deal, one of the things I’ve been praying for for a really long time,” Wallace told NBC’s Today. “So these last couple weeks, we’ve announced a lot of new partnerships coming in — DoorDash, Columbia, Beats. I’m just a walking ambassador right now, but I love it. Very thankful for all these companies and organizations to want to be a part of this journey.

“DoorDash has been great to work with so far. We’ve had really good conversations, and they stand up for the same values that I share about unity, openness and wanting to be a part of the communities that are in need in these dying times right now in our nation, to make it a better place for everybody. We’re excited to brainstorm and get some things rolling in those communities and just to make real change.”

It’s the second sponsorship announcement for Wallace and the No. 43 team this week. On Wednesday, Columbia Sportswear signed the 26-year-old driver as a brand ambassador and added sponsorship of the RPM entry at Dover International Speedway next weekend.

Last month, Cash App also came on board as a primary sponsor for five events in the 2020 season.

“This partnership enables us to engage with the racing community through one of the most exciting and forward-thinking athletes in the sport,” said Tony Xu, DoorDash chief executive officer and co-founder. “We’re proud to support an ambassador like Bubba with on-track excellence and off-track commitments and values that are so well aligned with ours.”