Daytona 500

NASCAR: Eight Cup Series events will feature practice/qualifying in 2021

by

Eight events on the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series docket will feature practice and qualifying, including the season-opening Daytona 500.

NASCAR confirmed on Friday that at least eight events at the Cup Series level will feature practice and qualifying.

These pre-race activities were previously eliminated last season to consolidate race weekends into a single-day after NASCAR became the first American sports league to make its return to action amidst the ongoing health crisis. Only one race since the return, the 600-mile event at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Memorial Day weekend, held qualifying to determine its race’s starting lineup, opting for mathematical formulas, random draws, or reversing the order of the top 20 in the previous race in all other cases.

The venues to hold practice and qualifying are mostly tracks that are new to the Cup Series circuit this year, including Circuit of the Americas (scheduled for May 23), Nashville Superspeedway (June 20), Road America (July 4), and Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course (August 15). Last season saw one new track added to the circuit without practice or qualifying, the road course at Daytona in August. The race was held without a major incident, with future Cup Series champion Chase Elliott taking home the win.

Practice and qualifying will also be held at high-profile events like the season-opening Daytona 500 (February 14), the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte (May 30), and the championship finale at Phoenix Raceway (November 7). There will also be pre-race stagings at the spring event at Bristol Motor Speedway (March 28) which will be run on dirt for the first time.

Several drivers noted their comfort with the lack of qualifying and practice during the season, either through its practicality or convenience.

“We’ve been so good with it the rest of the season that it’s become the new normal, and I’m cool with that. I’m just ready to go,” Brad Keselowski, one of the final four drivers up for the 2020 Cup Series title, said in November. “It feels so old school to me.  It feels like when we just started racing and you would just show up at your local short track Saturday at lunchtime and there would be a race at 5:00 or 7:00 at night or heat race and then a feature race and that was it, and then you loaded up and you were home by 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning. It’s so much like that now.”

“I love everything that we’re doing right now,” Kevin Harvick added in August after a win at Michigan. “The shorter schedules, I think it mixes it up. I think it makes it exciting.”

Times and dates will these qualifying/practice sessions will be announced further down the line, as will the plans for any pre-race activities for NASCAR Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series events.

Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

NASCAR: Kaulig Racing to ramp up Cup Series efforts in 2021

by

Known for their recent exploits on the NASCAR Xfinity Series level, Kaulig Racing will run select races at the premier Cup level in 2021.

Kaulig Racing’s efforts toward full-time status at the NASCAR Cup Series level took a big step forward on Thursday. The Xfinity Series squad announced that they will run select races on the 2021 Cup circuit, including the Daytona 500 on February 14. They will continue to compete for an Xfinity championship as well, with their season getting underway the day before.

“Kaulig Racing is always building toward the future and I believe this is the next step in that process,” said team owner, Matt Kaulig, in a statement. “We have the ultimate goal of becoming a powerhouse team in the Cup Series, and we are excited to continue our team’s growth.”

Drivers, sponsors, and other information for the Cup events will be revealed at a later date, but Kaulig’s statement indicated that “road course and superspeedway events” will be the likely destinations. The Cup Series is set to visit a record seven road courses in 2021, including Watkins Glen International in New York State.

Kaulig, the founder of gutter protection and cleaning system LeafFilter, opened his NASCAR team in 2016 with technical support from Richard Childress Racing. The team has been one of the most successful on the Xfinity level over the past two seasons, winning seven races over the past two seasons. Kaulig planned to run more Cup events last season, but was prevented from doing so by the ongoin health crisis.

“From where we started in a go-kart shop to a now championship-contending team, I have seen the growth of Kaulig Racing first-hand over the last 5 years,” said team president Chris Rice in the same statement. “It has been a privilege to be able to have Matt Kaulig’s trust in establishing ourselves as a competitive team in one of NASCAR’s top series, and I am confident we are ready to take that next step as an organization.”

Justin Haley won a team-record three events last season and was one of four drivers in contention for the series title at the finale at Phoenix, eventually coming home third. Haley is set to return for his third season in Kaulig’s No. 11 Chevrolet. The 21-year-old represented Kaulig in the team’s Cup debut at last season’s Daytona 500, finishing a respectable 13th in a car bearing No. 16. With his Xfinity win at Talladega in June, Haley became the 32nd driver in NASCAR history to win at least one race in all three of the circuit’s national touring series (Cup, Xfinity, Truck). He previously won in only his third Cup Series start at Daytona’s summer event in 2019 with low-budget Spire Motorsports by virtue of leading when inclement weather washed out the race with 30 laps to go.

It wouldn’t be a shock to see Haley take the superspeedway events at Daytona and Talladega, where he earned each of his 2020 wins. Kaulig’s garage also boasts the talents of former Cup starter and road course A.J. Allmendinger, whose lone win at the premier series came at the Watkins Glen event in 2014 with JTG Daugherty’s No. 47 team. Allmendinger ran 16 races on a part-time basis for Kaulig over the past two Xfinity seasons, winning three of them, including both visits to Charlotte’s road course. He will race for Kaulig on a full-time basis in 2021 on the Xfinity level, keeping his No. 16 branding.

Also joining the group this season is Jeb Burton, who takes over the No. 10 Chevrolet from Ross Chastain. Burton, the son of 2002 Daytona 500 champion Ward, has run sporadicly at each of NASCAR’s national levels, including a single full-time season in the Cup Series in 2015. He was a part-time driver with Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s team over the last two Xfinity seasons, taking home three top-five postings with JR Motorsports (including a runner-up finish at Richmond in September). Chastain was promoted to a full-time Cup ride in September, taking over for Matt Kenseth in the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Chevrolet.

Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

NASCAR: Noah Gragson to make Cup debut at Daytona (Report)

by

Gragson, 22, is coming off a strong showing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. He will take over the vehicle vacated by Brendan Gaughan.

Per Chris Knight of Catchfence.com, rising NASCAR prospect Noah Gragson will make his Cup Series debut at the 2021 Daytona 500 in February. He is set to pilot the No. 62 Chevrolet for Beard Motorsports.

Gragson, 22, is coming off a strong in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 9 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports, a team co-owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Rick Hendrick. He won two races, including the Xfinity opener at Daytona, and eared top-ten finishes in 25 of 33 events. This offseason, Gragson announced that he would return to the No. 9 car on a full-time basis for the 2021 Xfinity season, which begins on February 13, the day before the Daytona 500.

Gragson has earned a reputation for aggressive driving but has been viewed as a rising star amongst NASCAR’s lower-tier series. His ledger also includes a pair of victories on the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series circuit, both in vehicles owned by two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch. Gragson came home in the runner-up spot in the 2018 Truck Series standings, behind only Brett Moffitt.

Beard Motorsports, headed by former part-time Xfinity driver Mark Beard, had run a part-time NASCAR schedule throughout the course of the past decade. Their No. 62 car has appeared in every Cup Series race held at Daytona and Talladega (both two-plus mile superspeedways) since 2017, driven by NASCAR veteran Brendan Gaughan in each of those appearances. Gaughan kept the car competitive, running at the finish in 11 of 17 starts. His best finish was a seventh-place posting in last season’s opener at Daytona. Winner of ten races at the Xfinity and Truck levels, Gaughan announced his retirement after the 2020 season.

The No. 62 car will likely have to race its way into the race through one of the 150-mile qualifying races held prior to the main event.

The 2021 Daytona 500 is currently scheduled to be held on February 14.

Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags