New date for Daytona
The answer? Move the pole qualifying session from its traditional Sunday slot to a day earlier. In doing so, Daytona created a racing tripleheader for Saturday, Feb. 6, featuring the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 ARCA race, Daytona 500 qualifying and the non-points Budweiser Shootout for the Sprint Cup Series. The qualifying session, scheduled for 1:05 p.m. ET, will kick off the day's activities.
"We've been watching what happens that weekend anyway," said Roger VanDerSnick, executive vice president and chief operating officer of International Speedway Corporation, which owns a portfolio of racetracks, including Daytona. "From a publicity standpoint, running the Saturday before the Super Bowl is probably not the most optimal day, but that event (at Daytona) has turned into a good, strong local draw.
"It was spread over two days, and I think now we'll put it on one day and give much more value to fans, so now instead of having to come Saturday for the Shootout and the ARCA race and Sunday for qualifying, they get to come out to the racetrack on Saturday — spend a terrific day in the Florida sun — hopefully — and then they've still got the opportunity to have Super Bowl activities. And I suspect that (Daytona president) Robin Braig is already cooking on some kind of Super Bowl activities that we can do at the track for the fans that do want to stay there."