After a disappointing outing in the non-points Clash at the Los Angeles Coliseum a week ago, Harrison Burton and the No. 21 Motorcraft/DEX Imaging team are fired up heading into this weekend’s Great American Race – the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.
“The Clash is one thing, and I know it’s the first race on the schedule, but there’s something special about loading up to head to the Daytona 500,” said the team’s crew chief Jeremy Bullins, who won the 500 two years ago with Team Penske’s Austin Cindric as his driver and was runner-up in 2017 with Ryan Blaney in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford.
“It’s the obvious race on the schedule that everyone wants to win,” Bullins said. “While it’s changed a lot over the years with different cars and rule packages, you never stop getting excited about it.”
“We can’t wait to see how competitive our Mustang Dark Horse is and look forward to having some practice sessions to get the handling dialed in and try to kick the season off with a great finish for this Wood Brothers Racing team.”
The Wood Brothers have a long and storied history in the Daytona 500, NASCAR’s biggest race. They have five 500 victories beginning with their win in the 1963 event with Tiny Lund at the wheel of the iconic No. 21 Ford. Trevor Bayne delivered the Woods their most recent 500 victory in 2011.
In between were 500 triumphs with three giants of the sport – Cale Yarborough in 1968, A.J. Foyt in 1972 and David Pearson in 1976.
Preliminary events prior to the start of Sunday’s 66th-annual Daytona 500 kick off with pole qualifying on Wednesday, Feb. 14, at 8:35 p.m. Only the top-two starting positions will be determined in this session.
The twin Bluegreen Vacations Duel qualifying races that will determine the remainder of the 500 starting grid will be run Thursday evening, with the first 60-lap, 150-mile race getting the green flag at 7 p.m. The second race will start at approximately 8:45.
Two practice sessions are scheduled, the first on Friday at 5:35 p.m. and the second on Saturday at 10:30 a.m.
The green flag for Sunday’s 200-lap Daytona 500 is set to fly just after 2:30 p.m., with Stage breaks planned for Laps 65 and 130.
FOX Sports 1 will televise the preliminary events, with the coverage switching to FOX for the 500.
WBR PR
