The race was held at Daytona International Speedway, a race track located in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since its opening in 1959, the track has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosts ARCA, AMA Superbike, USCC, SCCA, and Motocross races. It features multiple layouts including the primary 2.5 miles (4.0 km) high speed tri-oval, a 3.56 miles (5.73 km) sports car course, a 2.95 miles (4.75 km) motorcycle course, and a .25 miles (0.40 km) karting and motorcycle flat-track. The track's 180-acre (73 ha) infield includes the 29-acre (12 ha) Lake Lloyd, which has hosted powerboat racing. The speedway is owned and operated by International Speedway Corporation.
The track was built in 1959 by NASCAR founder William "Bill" France, Sr. to host racing held at the former Daytona Beach Road Course. His banked design permitted higher speeds and gave fans a better view of the cars. Lights were installed around the track in 1998 and today, it is the third-largest single lit outdoor sports facility. The speedway has been renovated three times, with the infield renovated in 2004 and the track repaved twice — in 1978 and in 2010.
On January 22, 2013, the track unveiled artist depictions of a renovated speedway. On July 5 of that year, ground was broken for a project that would remove the backstretch seating and completely redevelop the frontstretch seating. The renovation to the speedway was done by Rossetti Architects. The project, named "Daytona Rising", was completed in January 2016, at a cost of US $400 million, placing emphasis on improving fan experience with five expanded and redesigned fan entrances (called "injectors") as well as wider and more comfortable seating with more restrooms and concession stands. After the renovations, the track's grandstands included 101,000 permanent seats with the ability to increase permanent seating to 125,000.[8][9] The project was completed before the start of Speedweeks.
On July 30, it was revealed after simulation testing revealed concerns of high speeds entering turn 1 (a turn already considered to be difficult among road racers), a temporary chicane was added in between the 4th turn of the oval and the entrance to pit road (similar to the Charlotte ROVAL). NASCAR further announced that it would use the high-downforce aero package used for the road course races in 2019 (in 2020, road courses were scheduled to use a low-downforce package similar to what was used in 2018 and what is used on ovals 1-mile or shorter in 2020). The addition of the chicane increased the length of the course from 3.56 to 3.61 miles and added a 13th and 14th turn to the original 12-turn layout.
Entry list
(R) denotes rookie driver.
(i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.
Kevin Harvick was awarded the pole for the race as determined by a new formula that NASCAR officials announced on August 6.[10] The formula will use three performance metrics, which will be weighted and averaged to determine the lineup and pit selection order. The metrics are Finishing position from the previous race (weighted 50%), Ranking in team owner points standings (35%), and Fastest lap from the previous race (15%). The success of this system led to NASCAR replacing the traditional rules for determining starting positions of owner points, then race winners, and then most qualifying attempts (with owner points as the tiebreaker) in the 2021 season if qualifying cannot be held because of inclement weather in the eight races where practice and qualifying cannot be conducted, and expanded in the 2022 season to determining practice and qualifying groups for all races.
Kaz Grala replaced Austin Dillon, who was medically disqualified by NASCAR after a positive virus test.[11] NASCAR further restricted drivers from participation in more than one race during the weekend, which meant typical Xfinity drivers who would substitute would not be permitted to participate in the Cup race. NASCAR did allow an Xfinity Series driver who was still on premises to relieve for a Cup driver in Sunday's event who fell ill.
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