The Xfinity Series starts its season with today’s Powershares QQQ 300 at Daytona International Speedway.
The season also begins a new way of how the series will determine its champion. It will use a Chase format similar to what is used in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The last driver to go on to win the championship after winning the February Daytona race is Randy LaJoie in 1997.
(All times are eastern)
START: Dan Draper, managing director, Invesco PowerShares Global EFT, will give the command to start engines at 3:37 p.m. The green flag is scheduled to wave at 3:49 p.m.
DISTANCE: The 120-lap race on the 2.5-mile speedway will cover 300 miles.
PRERACE SCHEDULE: The Xfinity garage opens at 7 a.m. Qualifying is at 10 a.m. The driver/crew chief meeting is at 11:50 a.m. Driver introductions are at 3 p.m.
NATIONAL ANTHEM: Orlando, Florida, resident Candace Walker will perform the anthem at 3:31 p.m
TV/RADIO: Fox Sports 1 will broadcast the race at 3:30 p.m. Motor Racing Network will broadcast the race on radio and at MRN.com with coverage beginning at 3 p.m. SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will carry MRN’s broadcast.
FORECAST: wunderground.com predicts a temperature of 69 degrees at race time with a 0 percent chance of rain.
LAST TIME: Austin Dillon led nine laps, including the last eight to win at Daytona in July. Ryan Reed won at Daytona last February with Roush Fenway Racing teammate Chris Buescher finishing second.
STARTING LINEUP:
