Is it any wonder that road courses have become the new favorite of NASCAR fans? There were very few who got out of Daytona unscathed. And yet, folks were able to move from the back to the front throughout the race.
Look at Daytona 500 winner Michael McDowell. He had trouble right out of the box, and was able to rally for an 8th place finish. Kurt Busch and Brad Keselowski both had their share of troubles, and still finished 4th and 5th respectively.
For most of the day, Chase Elliott was stinking up the show and rolling to his 5th straight road course points race win, in the Cup series.
All it took was one caution to shake things up. It gave teams a chance to try different strategies, and led to a memorable finish with Christopher Bell chasing down Joey Logano in the closing laps.
The ultimate test for road courses will be sample size; and we’re going to have plenty of it this year. Eight races total, counting the Clash. I can safely say that we’re off to a pretty good start.