Background , the site of the race. The race was held at
Daytona International Speedway, a
race track located in
Daytona Beach, Florida,
United States. Since its opening in 1959, the track has been the home of the
Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in
NASCAR. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosts
ARCA,
AMA Superbike,
USCC,
SCCA, and
Motocross races. It features multiple layouts including the primary high speed
tri-oval, a
sports car course, a motorcycle course, and a karting and motorcycle flat-track. The track's infield includes the Lake Lloyd, which has hosted
powerboat racing. The speedway is owned and operated by
International Speedway Corporation. The track was built in 1959 by NASCAR founder
William "Bill" France, Sr. to host racing held at the former
Daytona Beach Road Course. His banked design permitted higher speeds and gave fans a better view of the cars. Lights were installed around the track in 1998 and today, it is the third-largest single lit outdoor sports facility. The speedway has been renovated three times, with the infield renovated in 2004 and the track repaved twice — in 1978 and in 2010. On January 22, 2013, the track unveiled artist depictions of a renovated speedway. On July 5 of that year, ground was broken for a project that would remove the backstretch seating and completely redevelop the frontstretch seating. The renovation to the speedway was done by Rossetti Architects. The project, named "Daytona Rising", was completed in January 2016, at a cost of
US $400 million, placing emphasis on improving fan experience with five expanded and redesigned fan entrances (called "injectors") as well as wider and more comfortable seating with more restrooms and concession stands. After the renovations, the track's grandstands included 101,000 permanent seats with the ability to increase permanent seating to 125,000. The project was completed before the start of
Speedweeks.
Entry list •
(R) denotes rookie driver. •
(i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points. ==Qualifying==