It's a beautiful weekend in Central Florida as the 2024 NASCAR season kicks off at the World Center of Racing at Daytona! All 4 of the divisions are racing, with ARCA and Trucks on Friday, Xfinity on Saturday, and Cup on Sunday!
ARCA Menards Series
Friday evening rolls around for the ARCA Menards season opener at Daytona! The 3 car of Willie Mullins puts in a shock pole, but it is short lived as the race is quickly taken over by the 20 of Jake Finch and his Venturini Motorsports teammate Gus Dean in the 55. Lots of wrecks ensue as Dean takes home victory at Daytona.
Top 5:
1 - Gus Dean, 55 Venturini Motorsports
2 - Lavar Scott, 6 Rev Racing
3 - Sammy Smith, 28 Pinnacle Racing Group
4 - Tanner Gray, 18 Joe Gibbs Racing
5 - Andres Perez de Lara, 2 Rev Racing
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series looks to put behind a disaster 2023 Finale at Phoenix with a thrilling opener to kick off the season and it does not disappoint. A massive crash happens behind Nick Sanchez who takes the checkered flag!
Top 5:
1 - Nick Sanchez, 2 Rev Racing
2 - Corey Heim, 11 TRICON Garage
3 - Rajah Caruth, 71 Spire Motorsports
4 - Taylor Gray, 17 TRICON Garage
5 - Christian Eckes, 19 McNally-Hilgemann Racing
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Rookie of the Year contender and rising star Jesse Love takes home pole position and dominates at Daytona, but is unable to secure the win as Austin Hill completes a 3peat at the season opener.
Top 5:
1 - Austin Hill, 21 Richard Childress Racing
2 - Jeb Burton, 27 Jordan Anderson Racing
3 - Parker Kligerman, 48 Big Machine Racing
4 - Jesse Love, 2 Richard Childress Racing
5 - John Hunter Nemechek, 20 Joe Gibbs Racing
NASCAR Cup Series
The all glorious and prestigious Daytona 500 was set to be a classic and it did not disappoint, with all sorts of chaos and action happening as William Byron beats teammate Alex Bowman in a photo finish!
Top 5:
1 - William Byron, 24 Hendrick Motorsports
2 - Alex Bowman, 48 Hendrick Motorsports
3 - Ross Chastain, 1 Team Trackhouse
4 - Austin Cindric, 2 Team Penske
5 - Kyle Larson, 5 Hendrick Motorsports
Review and Takeaways
•The Venturini Motorsports group was the dominant bunch in Daytona in the ARCA Series, with Jake Finch and Gus Dean leading the majority of the laps. The pit crew om the 25 team was able to get Kris Wright up there with his teammates, but a wreck took him out. Sammy Smith was able to mix things up and split up the 20 and 55 late in the race, but was unable to get the job done. Sammy was "very happy" with the racecar he was given.
•In the Craftsman Truck Series, it was a melting pot. No specific team or driver dominated, but there were standouts such as rookie Taylor Gray for TRICON Garage, who found himself in the mix late in the going and was working very well with teammate Corey Heim.
•Jesse Love was the story of the day in the Xfinity Series after collecting pole, sweeping the stages, and leading the most laps. Unfortunately, his dream debut came to an end with a bad pit stop towards the end of the race, but his ability to control the field put everyone on notice to watch out for this super talent.
•The NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 was run by the Fords for the first 160 laps, but their alliance eventually faltered as they got involved in wrecks and had issues. William Byron becomes Hendrick Motorsports' first winner of this fabled race since Jimmie Johnson in 2013, and he looks to be the first driver since Johnson to win the 500 and the Championship in the same season.
Atlanta Preview
The action doesn't slow down after Daytona, as another superspeedway in Atlanta awaits the top 3 divisions in NASCAR, while the ARCA Menards Series is inactive until Phoenix Raceway in a couple weeks.
FOX Picks
NCTS: Kyle Busch, 7 Spire Motorsports
NXS: Austin Hill, 21 Richard Childress Racing
NCS: Austin Cindric, 2 Team Penske
Tune in next time in the Peach State! Brought to you by FOX Sports all weekend long, this is Chris Myers g off for this weekend at Daytona.
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