Daytona Road Course Scouting Report
Earlier this year in race #2, NASCAR raced at the Daytona Road Course. No road course is a perfect match for COTA, but studying the most recent visited and understanding how drivers performed is definitely smart.
One key moment I’ll note is the running order on lap 54 (16 to go). That was right before NASCAR brought out the “Rain caution” which flipped the race.
Daytona Road Course Top Ten Starters
- Chase Elliott
- Michael McDowell
- Austin Dillon
- Denny Hamlin
- Kevin Harvick
- Ryan Preece
- Corey LaJoie
- Kyle Larson
- Ross Chastain
- Bubba Wallace
Pre-Race Notes:
Erik Jones, Garrett Smithley and Justin Haley all started in the back.
Stage #1 Top Ten Finishers (Lap 16): 9,22,11,2,1,5,19,3,4,17
Stage #2 Top Ten Finishers (Lap 34): 11,1,22,20,19,9,24,41,16,18
Daytona Road Course 2021 Stats
Race Notes
Chase Elliott who started on the pole led the opening 12 laps. He selected to start in the low-line.
Notable Moment: On the opening lap in turn #1, Michael McDowell who started in 2nd completely overshot the first turn and lost a ton of track position. Unbeknownst to him, McDowell had a tire that was going flat at the time.
Notable Moment: On lap 1, Kyle Busch was shown to have a good amount of damage from an accordion effect incident. He was off pace. Busch’s nose was damaged and he pitted for repairs during the lap #2 caution.
On lap 2, the caution came out for debris. Michael McDowell lost a tire.
Running order on lap 2 under caution: 9,3,11,4,37,22,42,5,41,7 … 2,20,1,23,14,24,19,8,47,12 … 21,51,10,17,16,52,38,99,6,48 … 78,96,15,43,53,77,00,18,66,34
On lap 4, Clint Bowyer said Chase Elliott’s key to success was braking.
Joey Logano had a fast car early and he planned to drive aggressive. He started in 11th and on lap 5 he was up to 3rd. Logano had good short run speed.
Notable Moment: Chase Briscoe spun out in the chicane and lost a ton of track time on lap 5.
Chase Elliott had a 2.7 second lead on lap 6.
Running order on lap 8: 9,11,22,3,5,19,4,1,42,20 … 41,2,8,24,37,16,12,17,21,10 … 23,48,99,43,96,47,18,6,34,15 … 51,77,38,7,14,52,78,53,66,00
Notable Moment: On lap 10, Erik Jones who was running in 24th had a flat tire and it shredded.
On lap 11, Brad Keselowski completely missed the front stretch chicane and he came to pit road.
Big Moment: Matt DiBenedetto brought out the caution on lap 11. His right rear tire came apart and his car had a ton of damage. He was running in the high-teens prior to his problem.
Christopher Bell didn’t stop during the DiBenedetto caution and got the lead. Keselowski didn’t pit either and they were now 1-2.
Notable Moment: During the DiBenedetto caution, both William Byron and Tyler Reddick got uncontrolled tire penalties.
Running order on lap 13: 9,2,22,20,11,1,5,3,4,19 … 41,42,17,12,37,48,10,16,47,6 … 23,99,7,96,24,8,38,34,77,43 … 18,21,15,51,53,78,52,66,14,00
Stage #1 Top Ten Finishers (Lap 16): 9,22,11,2,1,5,19,3,4,17
During a radio interview during Stage #1, Martin Truex Jr. liked his car. He would restart in 5th in Stage #2.
Running order on lap 19 under the Stage caution: 9,22,11,1,19,3,41,48,16,24 … 6,38,99,5,2,4,20,42,17,37 … 10,47,12,77,23,34,43,7,8,78 … 15,51,21,52,18,96,53,66,14,00
Running order on lap 23: 9,11,19,22,16,1,5,3,41,24 … 2,48,20,99,4,17,10,6,12,34 … 42,37,47,18,43,23,8,38,96,14 … 21,7,77,15,51,52,78,53,66,00
Notable Moment: On lap 25, Brad Keselowski missed the back stretch chicane again and had to come to a stop on the track.
On lap 25, Martin Truex Jr. passed Denny Hamlin for 2nd.
Running order on lap 26: 9,19,11,16,22,1,5,41,20,3 … 24,17,4,10,2,99,48,18,12,42 … 37,47,34,8,43,6,23,14,96,38 … 21,15,7,51,77,52,78,53,66,00
Big Moment: Ross Chastian wrecked on lap 27 and brought out a caution. He was running in 20th at the time.
During the Chastain caution, quite a few cars didn’t pit.
Running order on lap 30: 11,16,1,4,19,5,22,20,24,41 … 9,34,10,3,18,17,99,43,12,47 …. 2,48,37,6,7,23,21,8,14,77 … 38,15,51,53,78,52,96,66,42,00
Notable Moment: Bubba Wallace had a big brake lockup around lap 31 and his car was shown to have damage at the time. He then came to pit road to make an unexpected pit stop.
Running order on lap 34: 11,1,22,19,20,9,24,16,41,4 … 18,5,10,17,3,12,99,43,34,47 … 48,37,8,21,6,7,14,2,77,51 … 38,15,53,52,78,96,66,23,42,00
Stage #2 Top Ten Finishers (Lap 34): 11,1,22,20,19,9,24,41,16,18
Notable Moment: During the Stage #2 caution, AJ Allmendinger was caught speeding on pit road. He just finished 9th in Stage #2.
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