Friday, February 19
Track: Daytona (Fla.) Road Course, 14-turn, 3.61-mile road course
Race: 2 of 22
Event: BrakeBest Pads 159 at Daytona Presented by O’Reilly (44 laps, 159 miles)
Schedule
Friday, February 19
Race: 7:30 p.m. ET (FOX Sports 1)
Hailie Deegan, No. 1 Monster Energy Ford F-150
- Deegan makes her second start of the season in the No. 1 Monster Energy Ford F-150 on Friday night at the 14-turn Daytona Road Course. The young driver will start in the 23rd position.
- Deegan has one career start on the NASCAR Daytona Road Course layout. Last year, she competed on the road course in the ARCA Series. After starting seventh, Deegan completed all 28 possible laps and finished sixth.
- Last weekend at the Daytona superspeedway, the 19-year-old started in the ninth position and ran as high as the top-five before a late-race spin put her three laps down in the event and ultimately finished 24th.
- The Ford driver has one start on the sports car road course at Daytona in the IMSA Series. In January 2020, Deegan was paired with fellow Ford driver Chase Briscoe. The duo raced the No. 22 Ford Mustang GT4 in a four hour event leading into the annual Rolex 24.
Click here for Deegan’s career statistics.
Deegan on Daytona:
How was your first Truck Series start at Daytona last weekend?
“Daytona was so much fun. Being able to race there is such a blessing and not many drivers get to say that they’ve raced at Daytona in their lifetime. There’s a lot of drivers out there that have a goal of just getting the opportunity to race at Daytona, so being able to race there was a cool experience.”
You raced on the Daytona road course last year in the ARCA Series, do you think any of that will translate over to the Truck Series this weekend?
“Having done the race in ARCA on the road course is so helpful because it’s not going to take as much time for me to learn the track. I’m going to be able to take more time to learn about the truck and work on the setup throughout the race. The ARCA race on the road course was a lot of fun, but it was a little bit wet because it was raining before the race. That will probably be the biggest difference in the track from ARCA to the trucks, a wet track versus a dry one. But if it rains before the truck race, I’ll definitely have an idea of what it’s going to feel like.”
Earlier this week, Deegan participated in a Twitter Q&A with Daytona International Speedway. She covered everything from her favorite kind of food, the track she’s most looking forward to this season and how she’ll tackle the Daytona road course this weekend. Click the image to read the full thread.
Tanner Gray, No. 15 Ford Performance F-150
- Gray has one career start at the Daytona Road Course coming in 2020 when the iconic facility played host to all three national series on the 14-turn course for the first time in history. He brought the the No. 15 F-150 home with a 15th-place finish.
- Last year’s event marked the first ever start on a road course for the 21-year-old. His only previous road start came in the ARCA Menards Series East at Watkins Glen International in 2019 where he finished 11th.
- The No. 15 Ford Performance team will look to complete their first competitive laps this weekend after a mechanical failure prior to taking the green flag kept them from turning a single lap at speed during the season opener on the superspeedway.
- Click here for Gray’s career statistics.
Gray on Daytona:
You have very limited road course racing experience. What were you able learn last year that will be key for this weekend?
“The only road course race I had ever run before last year was at Watkins Glen in the ARCA car, so that was tough heading into this race last August. I would say the Daytona course is the most challenging one I have run, but it was also a lot fun. The biggest thing I learned was just to be patient and not abuse the tires. It looks like it might rain on Friday night and that is an element I have never experienced before, so we’ll see how it goes.”
Riley Herbst, No. 17 Factory Canopies/Lincoln Welders Ford F-150
- Riley Herbst has joined DGR for a one-race deal at the Daytona Road Course. Herbst competes full-time for Stewart-Haas Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and will look to gain valuable experience on the road course Friday evening.
- The Las Vegas native will start 25th in Friday night’s road course event.
- The 21-year-old driver showed speed on the road courses in the Xfinity Series last season with a best finish of seventh at Daytona in August.
- Herbst has eight career NCWTS starts dating back to 2018 with the most recent start coming at the Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 14, 2020. He has one top-five, three top-10s and one pole award during that span.
- Click here for Herbst’s career statistics.
Herbst on Daytona:
What are you hoping to learn/get out of driving the truck this weekend?
“I’m hoping to get more repetition and to make my lap times better in preparation for Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race. I’m excited for these extra laps on the Daytona road course since I’ve only been able to run it once so far in my career.”
It has been just over year since you’ve driven a truck. Any nerves? Especially since you’re going into this weekend without any practice?
“I wouldn’t say nervous. I’m more excited to compete in the truck series which is so competitive. Since we don’t have practice, the truck race will be another chance for me to prepare for Saturday’s race and hopefully get a win for DGR.”
