DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Due to challenges resulting from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the need for significant advance planning, NASCAR officials have removed the planned Auto Club Speedway event in Fontana, Calif., from the schedule.
In its place, all three NASCAR National divisions will now compete on the Daytona Int’l Speedway Road Course during the weekend of Feb. 19-21, one week after the Daytona 500. The Busch Clash, the annual non-point event held in advance of the Daytona 500, is also scheduled to take place on the Daytona Int’l Speedway Road Course.
The NASCAR weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway, which was to serve as the second event on the calendar for the NASCAR Cup Series, will now take place on Feb. 27-28.
“Daytona Int’l Speedway is known for iconic moments, and last year’s historical, first NASCAR road course races were incredibly exciting and added to the legacy of the World Center of Racing,” said Daytona Int’l Speedway President Chip Wile. “It was also great to see our trio of winners go on and hoist Championship trophies at Phoenix. We’re thrilled to have all three series back.”
Following the events at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will all head to Las Vegas Motor Speedway as originally planned March 5-7.
In addition to canceling the planned race weekend at Auto Club Speedway, track officials also confirmed the planned reconfiguration project that would turn the two-mile oval into a short-track venue would not be completed until at least 2023. That means any event at the track in 2022 would take place on the two-mile oval.
This will be the second time NASCAR has held a points event on the Daytona Int’l Speedway Road Course. Chase Elliott won the NASCAR Cup Series event on the Daytona Road Course last year, while Austin Cindric (Xfinity Series), Sheldon Creed (Truck Series) and Michael Self (ARCA) also earned victories in the other events on the track that weekend.
Exact dates and start times for the races on the Daytona Int’l Speedway Road Course will be announced at a later date.