By Tristan Ell

The Daytona International Speedway is located in Daytona Beach, Florida and is a two and a half mile superspeedway oval. The track was built in 1959 after visionary Bill France Sr. wanted to move on from the beach and into a bigger venue.

The superspeedway features turns banked at 31 degrees, which promotes cars to race around the speedway without lifting off the throttle. In the 1980s, cars consistently exceeded speeds well over 200 miles per hour (mph)."

This later changed after a crash in 1987 where Bobby Allison's car went airborne into a catch fence at the sister track Talladega. Since then, NASCAR has enforced a specific rules package that restricts the engines, keeping cars at or below 200 mph.

This regulation promotes the idea of pack racing which sees big groups of cars closely packed together with little to no separation, creating intense and sometimes dangerous racing conditions.

It is not uncommon to see some of the most violent and breathtaking crashes at this speedway due to the high speeds and close-quarters action. One mistake can lead to a car being flipped over, flying into a fence or creating a huge pileup known as the “The Big One.” These big crashes are quite common since NASCAR created this style of racing and it is not uncommon to see 15 or more cars collected in a single wreck.

Some of the most notable crashes were Ryan Newman's flip in 2020 and more recently Ryan Preece's crash this past season. Both drivers were able to race again in the coming weeks but these terrifying crashes are part of what defines the brutal nature of this type of racing.

The Daytona race offers opportunities for small, underfunded teams to compete with some of the big teams in the sport. Just last season, JTG Daugherty Racing was able to capture the victory with driver Ricky Stenhouse.

The bigger, well-funded teams will typically win the races on the non-superspeedway tracks but with the unpredictability that comes with this type of racing opens the door for any team to triumph.

Many drivers are not fond of this type of racing but it certainly draws many fans to tune into the action. The event has sold out for the ninth consecutive year and it is still one of NASCAR’s most viewed races of the year.

The race week consists of qualifying; qualifying determines the starting lineups for the two 60 lap duel races along with the first and second starting position for the Daytona 500. The field is then split in half for the two duel races which determine the rest of the starting positions.

42 cars will show for the race this weekend with the 36 chartered cars locked into the Daytona 500. The remaining six cars will fight for the final four spots between qualifying and the duels to make up the 40 car field.

The Daytona 500 is set to take place on Sunday Feb. 18 at 2:30 Eastern time. Cars will race around the track for 200 laps and 500 miles. There is no telling what will take place in this famed event.