DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) β The newly formed driver council met with NASCAR for a second time Saturday and it may have led to a new rules package for upcoming races at Indianapolis and Michigan. NASCAR has already said it will use a package with less downforce next weekend at Kentucky Speedway, and that same package could be used at Darlington Raceway next month. Now it appears a package with a higher level of drag is in the works for Indy and Michigan.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) β Rain washed out qualifying for Sunday night’s race at Daytona International Speedway, where the field was set by practice times. Dale Earnhardt Jr. will start from the pole because he was fastest in Friday’s first practice session. NASCAR’s most popular driver deliberately ran a very fast lap because his crew chief anticipated rain could interrupt qualifying on Saturday. The decision was correct as the session never began on Saturday. Austin Dillon will start second.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) β NASCAR is adding more soft walls beyond Daytona International Speedway. International Speedway Corp., NASCAR’s sister company that owns Daytona and several other sanctioned tracks, announced plans Saturday to install about 54,000 feet of additional energy-absorbing SAFER Barrier at its facilities. That total includes the 4,100 feet recently installed at Daytona and the 4,000 feet track officials have planned following Sunday’s race. ISC President John Saunders says the decision to add more “soft walls” came as a result of a thorough review and audit of impact-absorbing technologies at tracks.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) β Late television broadcaster Steve Byrnes has won the Squier-Hall Award for NASCAR media excellence. Byrnes died in April after a long bout with cancer. He joined Fox Sports in 2001 and served as a pit reporter for its Sprint Cup Series coverage through the 2014 season. He was also a play-by-play announcer for Fox Sports 1’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races and hosted several auto racing shows on the company’s channels. Byrnes will be honored during NASCAR’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony in January.
