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Friday Faceoff: Will Daytona Have Fewer Cautions?

Do you anticipate fewer cautions at Daytona International Speedway because it doesn’t host the NASCAR Cup Series regular-season finale?

Luken Glover: If anything, there is a good chance there will be more. Daytona is an animal in itself, and the looming threat of the Big One is always present. No matter how many caution flags fly, I do not expect the intensity to simmer down. There are only two races left until the playoffs, and several teams view this as their best, and perhaps only chance to crack the postseason grid. There are also the drivers on the playoff bubble who will be tiptoeing to at least score some points and potentially end any points concern by winning the race. Buckle up, the heat is just turning up.

James Krause: No. At the end of the day, no matter where it is on the calendar, a superspeedway race is a superspeedway race. While it might not be the final chance for a lot of teams, it’s the best chance for teams further down the standings looking for an upset. Ty Gibbs, Ross Chastain, Bubba Wallace and Chris Buescher will all try to win but can breathe easy if they have good points days. Everyone else will be doing all they can late to get to the front.

Mike Neff: It doesn’t matter where the race falls in the schedule. A race at Daytona results in pack racing with turbulent air buffering the cars constantly. The unsettled cars will move unpredictably in the pack, and occasionally someone is going to contact another car in the wrong position. That will result in caution flags. Only the good lord knows how many will fly.

Phil Allaway: Honestly, it will be about the same. There’s always potential for shenanigans in these superspeedway races, and I don’t expect this weekend to be any different. There’s still going to be that sense of urgency that always comes into play. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Austin Dillon are still in the race, after all.

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Will there be greater concern for flips at Daytona?

Neff: There is no doubt there will be heightened concern over cars getting airborne at Daytona. The flat underside of these cars makes them more prone to lift when they get out of shape and turn sideways. There will be changes coming to the flaps and other anti-flip components soon. Perhaps before Talladega Superspeedway.

Glover: Given what we saw at Michigan International Speedway, there will be a more concentrated focus on what happens to a car when it spins at high speeds. The new rear-window air deflector is aimed at increasing liftoff speed in the immediate stages of a spin to lessen the potential for a flip. That new addition should help ease some of the concerns. However, several changes have been made to prevent as many flips as possible, but flips are still prone to happen. If one happens at Daytona, it shouldn’t come as a surprise.

Allaway: There will be quite a few more people concerned about the potential for flips, especially during the Cup race. They won’t be any more likely to occur, though. I don’t know what the deflectors that NASCAR has mandated for Cup teams this weekend are going to do, though.

Krause: Absolutely. Ryan Preece’s crash last season was one of the worst we’ve seen in a while. Daytona may have taken out the grass that caused the violent flipping, but as Corey LaJoie’s flip at Michigan showed, it still doesn’t take much to get these cars upside down at high speed.

Should there be a support series race to accompany the 2025 Busch Light Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium?

Allaway: I’d like to see one, but I wouldn’t be shocked if there weren’t. Early February in North Carolina is tough. As far as I’m concerned, you have two options. One is to have the ARCA Menards Series East there and make it the season opener. It’s raced there before. The other is to have Modifieds, either the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour or the SMART Modified Tour. Either one is fine; I’m not picky. Either way, whoever supports Cup at the Clash would be put up on a pedestal. Remember that the NASCAR Mexico Series race at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum this year had a live broadcast on FOX Sports 1. Whoever gets tapped for that support spot will get a bunch of exposure.

Krause: Yes, and I’ve got the perfect pick for the occasion. We saw NASCAR have a showcase event for the Mexico Series last season, which worked for teams and fans being in Los Angeles. We don’t need to go national (or international) to find what will entertain the fans. Do you want to go to Bowman Gray? Why not get a full-on Bowman Gray experience and race its weekly Modifieds or Street Stocks for a huge cash prize? We’ve all seen clips of what they’ll do for wins weekly. Imagine what they’d try for a big check and with a national TV audience.

Glover: With NASCAR’s increased efforts at promoting grassroots racing in recent years. Having a local series such as late models would be a great opening act to ring in the Clash. Combining a grassroots series to go along with the Cup Series would be a great way to truly bring the sport back to its roots and intermingle fans. Despite the controversy that has occurred at Bowman Gray, its tracks like that have helped build up the sport.

Neff: Because Bowman Gray has been the Southern home of Modified racing forever, it would be outstanding to see the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour kick off its season as a support race for the Clash. The Stadium Stocks at BGS always put on amazing races too, but NASCAR is not going to let such a local show be showcased on national TV.

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Which two drivers will be eliminated in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Round of 10?

Krause: This is a tough one, in part because of the tracks in the Round of 10. A pair of short tracks to start where it feels like anything can happen. There are strong cases to be made for most of these drivers to be up for strong runs in the next three races. The odd ones out are Ben Rhodes and Daniel Dye. I just haven’t seen a lot of strong performances from Rhodes or enough consistency from Dye.

Allaway: It’s a little hard to say. I’m learning toward Dye and Taylor Gray. The Milwaukee Mile doesn’t compare to anywhere they’ve raced this year with the possible exception of Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, where Dye struggled. He also struggled at Bristol Motor Speedway. Beyond Dye, it’s a bit of a tossup, and I’m going with Gray since he’s struggled at times lately in general.

Glover: The nature of the Truck Series paired with a couple of short tracks in the first round creates a lot of unknowns heading in. I would not be surprised to see a shock elimination, but I’m going with the bottom two drivers, Rhodes and Dye. It’s hard to go against Rhodes as the defending champion and an experienced driver who seems to get just enough points to survive. However, the pace has not been there this year, and short tracks have generally been a struggle for the No. 99 group this season. Dye has made tremendous strides to get into the playoffs, but the lack of experience and consistency are vulnerable areas at a time when drivers need to be at their best. However, if one or both of these drivers advance, I wouldn’t be surprised.

About the author

Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor.

Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.

Kevin Nix has been with Frontstretch since February 2023. Hailing from Gilbert, Arizona, his dream is to be in the NASCAR media sphere full-time. He is a video assistant, working on the back end to streamline video and audio quality of all at-track interviews. Nix also writes about news every Monday for the site.

Nix graduated with a Master's Degree in Sports Journalism from ASU's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in Phoenix, Arizona. He also has bachelor's degrees in Communications and Political Science. In his downtime, he likes to read, play video games and take walks in the Arizona weather - when it's not too hot.

James Krause joined Frontstretch in March 2024 as a contributor. Krause was born and raised in Illinois and graduated from Northern Illinois University. He currently works in La Crosse, Wisconsin as a local sports reporter, including local short track racing. Outside of racing, Krause loves to keep up with of football, music, anime and video games.

Luken Glover joined the Frontstretch team in 2020 as a contributor, furthering a love for racing that traces back to his earliest memories. Glover inherited his passion for racing from his grandfather, who used to help former NASCAR team owner Junie Donlavey in his Richmond, Va. garage. A 2023 graduate from the University of the Cumberlands, Glover is the author of "The Underdog House," contributes to commentary pieces, and does occasional at-track reporting. Additionally, Glover enjoys working in ministry, coaching basketball, playing sports, and karting.

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2 Comments
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RCFX1

With Stage racing, they’re guaranteed 2 cautions for at least 6 laps.

Last edited 2 months ago by RCFX1
DoninAjax

And ten minutes of commercials per TV time out plus two or three commercial laden GWC double file restarts.