DAYTONA, Fla. (WFLA) — The biggest race in NASCAR is just days away, and drivers are already in Florida gearing up.
The Daytona 500 will officially open the NASCAR season on Sunday. The 500-mile race is held every year at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach.
This year’s race, the 66th running of “The Great American Race,” is completely sold out. According to NASCAR’s website, Daytona International Speedway said the 2024 Daytona 500 grandstands and camping sold out “nearly three months in advance of the NASCAR Cup Serious season opener.”
NASCAR said this is the earliest The World Center of Racing announced a sellout in the modern era and the ninth consecutive sellout of “The Great American Race.”
Ahead of the big race, NASCAR’s biggest drivers graced the red carpet and spoke with reporters for the Daytona 500 Media Day before qualifying begins.
Nexstar affiliates FOX8 WGHP from North Carolina and WFLA from Florida were there to speak with top drivers like Chase Elliot, Joey Logano, Jimmie Johnson, Bubba Wallace, and last year’s Daytona 500 winner Rickey Stenhouse Jr., and more at Daytona International Speedway for Countdown to Daytona.
Stenhouse Jr. will look to have a repeat of last year’s Daytona 500. The 36-year-old from Olive Branch, Mississippi, won in double overtime last year in the longest-running of “The Great American Race.”
Meanwhile, Logano, who came in second place in last year’s big race after leading six times for 12 laps, will look to clinch his second Daytona 500 crown. He previously won the race in 2015.
Countdown to Daytona was live with FOX8’s Kevin Connolly and Danny Harnden.
