First signs of NASCAR's thunderous front begins arriving for weekend at Daytona
The caravan is a-comin’.
If you’re on southbound I-95 this morning or, more specifically, between I-95 and the big track on International Speedway Boulevard, you’re likely to see the colorful convoy of tractor-trailers making their way to town for NASCAR’s summertime trip to the beach.
It’s the traditional, leading edge of a front that’s heavy on thunder, in the form of internally combusted horsepower pouring through the hoods of nearly 80 race cars over the course of Friday and Saturday at Daytona International Speedway — the self-proclaimed (and rightly so, some would say) World Center of Racing.
Thirty-eight teams are entered for Friday night’s Xfinity Series race — the Wawa 250 — and those team haulers are scheduled to arrive between 7-9 a.m.
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Friday, between 10 a.m. and noon, 39 Cup Series team haulers will go through the same paces: Slide into the assigned garage parking spot, unload the car, unload the tools and spare parts, and begin the familiar process of prep work leading to the green flag for Saturday night’s 65th running of the Coke Zero Sugar 400.
For the Wawa 250, it’ll be a one-day show, with qualifying slated for Friday afternoon at 3, and the race Friday night at 7:30.
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The Cup Series cars will also qualify Friday afternoon, beginning at 5, with the race scheduled for Saturday night shortly after 7.
This will be the 26th and final regular-season race of 2023 for the Cup Series, and will set the final 16-car lineup for the 10-race “playoffs” that begin next week at Darlington.
The Xfinity Series regular season runs for two more weeks after this weekend, with its seven-race playoffs beginning Sept. 15 at Bristol.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR at Daytona: Early signs of Coke Zero Sugar 400 weekend arriving
