Last NASCAR season during the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona, Ryan Preece was involved in a stunning wreck. He flipped multiple times in the grass. The violence and force of the wreck were scary enough for those watching the race, let alone the driver, his family, and his team.
Since the flip, NASCAR analyzed what happened that night at Daytona that led to the violent wreck. The decision, ultimately, was to pave over the grass areas to prevent cars from catching air and flipping in the manner Preece did.
Recently, NASCAR executives talked about the repave and why they made the decision. There was also a section of rumble strips and concrete pads removed from the track.
The goal is to make it a flat surface, giving cars as much room to stop as they need.
“With the incident we had with the 41 car at Daytona II, we have, you see in yellow there, re-asphalted that area,” Elton Sawyer, senior VP of competition at NASCAR said, via Matt Weaver of Sportsnaut. “Post Daytona 500, we will asphalt the green area.
“The reason is working within our off-season and with our friends at IMSA (for the Rolex 24). It will be done post-Daytona 500. As well as the rumble strips that are there on the bus stop today, they will be removed, as will the concrete pads, which will give us the opportunity to, similar to what we do at Circuit of the Americas, take different rumble strips and interchange them.”
So, Daytona will look a little different for the 500. If it keeps cars from doing what Ryan Preece’s car did last year, then it is definitely worth it.
Ryan Preece involved in two major wrecks in 2023
Between the Dytona crash and his wreck with Kyle Larson at Talladega in April, Ryan Preece was involved in two major incidents in 2023. The Talladega incident led to a change. NASCAR added gusset plates to strengthen the passenger side of the car on superspeedways. As well as other changes.
Preece, driving through a wreck and cloud of smoke, slammed into Larson’s car. The No. 5 was more or less a sitting duck. The frame of the car caved in, and the 41 basically breached the 5 car’s cockpit.
Then, you have the Daytona wreck. That leads to a repave and change to the rumble strips. It’s rough being a driver in that position. It leads to improvements in the sport, but no one wants to see these moments happen in the first place.
Hopefully, 2024 is a safe NASCAR season. Ryan Preece doesn’t need to make any more headlines for the wrong reasons. He and his Stewart-Haas team are hoping to bounce back in a big way in 2024.