The 62nd annual Daytona 500 takes place on Sunday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway. This race will kick-off the season and bring about two years of change for the sport. The biggest of these switches is that the schedule will be tweaked in anticipation of the 2020 season.
According to FOX News, NASCAR switched up the race schedule that had been in place for years. The new version features Phoenix hosting the championship-deciding finale in November while Martinsville Speedway gets both a night race and the penultimate playoff race.
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Daytona traditionally hosted a race on July Fourth weekend, but that has changed for the 2020 season. Indianapolis Motor Speedway will now be the host while Daytona takes over the final regular-season race. Finally, Pocono Raceway will be hosting two Cup Series races in one weekend.
In addition to the schedule change, NASCAR will be switching up the sponsorship model. Instead of having one single company as the title, such as the Monster Energy Cup, these races will simply be known as the Cup Series. Premier partners in Busch Beer, Coca-Cola, GEICO and Xfinity will take on large roles as part of this new arrangement.
The 62nd annual Daytona 500 will also mark the end of two eras. This will be the final year with the current race car. The “next-gen” vehicles will debut in 2021 and will be expected to trim millions of dollars from the race team budgets.
Additionally, veteran racer Jimmie Johnson will be walking away from the life of a full-time NASCAR driver at the end of the season. This will be his 19th season, and it will serve as his final opportunity to secure a record-setting eighth Daytona 500 win. However, Johnson is focusing less on the win and more on enjoying his final season.
“I’ve been able to have some clarity and to really understand it on a deeper level,” Johnson said about his final run. “One thing that I’ve come to grips with and I’m enjoying letting go of is: I feel like I’ve been a bit out of character and a bit focused on a number, a statistic – and I’ve never in my life been that way. I’ve never raced that way.”
“I’m out there one final time,” Johnson continued. “This is just one final time, and it feels so good to be able to let go of that chasing part.”
The 62nd annual Dayton 500 takes place on Sunday, Feb. 16, at Daytona International Raceway. The event will begin at 2:30 p.m. ET.
Photo Credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
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