Daytona Speedweeks presented by AdventHealth is a series of racing events that take place during January and February at

Daytona International Speedway Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR as well as its season opening event. In addition to NASC ...

. Traditionally leading up to the

Daytona 500 The Daytona 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series motor race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is the first of two Cup races held every year at Daytona, the second being the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and one of thre ...

, in 2021 it concluded with the Daytona road course race. Nearby tracks New Smyrna Speedway and

Volusia County Speedway Volusia Speedway Park (formerly known as Volusia County Speedway and Barberville Speedway) is an auto racing facility located near Barberville in Volusia County, Florida. It currently operates as a 1/2-mile dirt oval and a 1/5-mile dirt oval ...

also run special events during the period. There is also a Monster Jam event held at EverBank Field in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which th ...

. In 2021 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic Monster Energy Supercross raced at

Camping World Stadium Camping World Stadium is a stadium in Orlando, Florida, located in the West Lakes neighborhood of Downtown Orlando, west of new sports and entertainment facilities including the Amway Center, the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, ...

in Orlando which is about an hour South of the speedway. The races took place on February 13th and 20th which was the same day as both

NASCAR Xfinity Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

races at the speedway.

January

Through 2014, ''Speedweeks'' informally kicked off in early January with off-season testing at Daytona. The

NASCAR Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...

, Xfinity Series, and

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck based stock cars. The series is one of ...

regularly conducted annual preseason tests on the oval, under the moniker "Preseason Thunder". From 2015-2021, the January test sessions were removed as part of NASCAR's overall ban on private testing. In January 2022 Preseason Thunder returned as a two-day test with only the

, in order to test the Next Gen car. In mid-January, the

ARCA Menards Series The ARCA Menards Series is an American stock car series, the premier division of the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA). It is considered a minor, semi-professional league of stock car racing, used as a feeder series into the three nation ...

has a two day test held on Friday and Saturday. Also in January, the

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (IMS ...

and the

Michelin Pilot Challenge The Michelin Pilot Challenge is a grand touring and touring car racing series run by the International Motor Sports Association. Originating from the Canadian Motorola Cup, the series was taken over by Grand-Am in 2001 to become the Grand-Am Cu ...

conducts a test session on the Daytona

road course Road racing is a form of motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held either on a closed circuit or on a street circuit utilizing temporarily closed public roads. Originally, road races were held almost entirely on publ ...

, in preparations for the

Rolex 24 The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layout ...

. It is nicknamed the "Roar Before the 24." During this test session the

IMSA Prototype Challenge IMSA Prototype Challenge (formerly IMSA Prototype Lites) is a racing series featuring two classes of single-seat prototype cars racing simultaneously. The series is sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). Most races are ...

series which is a feeder division for the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship has a 3 hour race usually held Saturday afternoon during the weekend of events. The first race for the series was held in 2018 and was originally 1 hour and 45 minutes. Starting in 2021 the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar championship will have a 100 minute race to start the line up for the

. The race takes place on Sunday afternoon during the Roar Before the 24. Also starting in 2021 the roar before the 24 will be the weekend before the Rolex 24. Originally it was the first weekend in January but due to ongoing COVID-19 and travel problems in 2021 the race was rescheduled.

24 Hours of Daytona

The first major event of ''Speedweeks'' is the

24 Hours of Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layo ...

. Currently it is held the final weekend of January, which is also the bye week for the

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the gam ...

and the weekend of the

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

. This weekend has been specifically chosen to avoid conflict with the Super Bowl. Before 2006 the

was held the first weekend in February which was the weekend before

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

events started and the same day as the Super Bowl. For 2021, the events will be held over two weekends. The first weekend will feature The Roar Before the 24 practice on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The first weekend will feature a 1 hour, 40 minute race that will set the field for the 24 Hours of Daytona on Sunday. Also Starting in 2021 the Mazda

Global MX-5 Cup The Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BF Goodrich is a single-make motor racing championship sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) in the United States. Mazda MX-5 Cup is the professional Spec Miata series of Mazda M ...

series will race during the rolex 24 weekend. The series uses a two race format. The first race is held on Thursday evening and the second race being held on Friday morning. The second weekend will feature two events: *

4 hour BMW endurance challenge(Thursday and Friday) (practice and qualifying Thursday) *

(Thursday-Sunday) (practice Thursday and Friday, race starts late Saturday afternoon and ends late Sunday afternoon.)

Daytona 500 week

Following the

, there is no track activity for two weeks. This prevents a conflict with the

. During this time, track officials clean the track and make final preparations for the arrival of stock cars and the increased number of spectators. Typically, stock car action would begin as early as 10 days before the

with practice sessions, qualifying sessions and races, support series races, exhibition races, and other events. Because of

Super Bowl LV Super Bowl LV was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2020 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the American Football Confere ...

in 2021 in nearby Tampa NASCAR originally planned consolidation down to a single "Speedweek" of stock car action. However, with COVID-19 restrictions in California, NASCAR announced on December 8, 2020 that Speedweeks will instead be two weeks with the Daytona road course races being the final race of the meeting, instead of the Daytona 500. The oval will be the first week, the road course on the second.

Wednesday

*NASCAR Cup Series qualifying for the Daytona 500 pole position (evening)

Thursday

practice (Afternoon) * NASCAR Truck Series practice (Afternoon) *NASCAR Cup Series Bluegreen Vacations Duel races (evening)

Friday

qualifying (afternoon) *NASCAR Truck Series qualifying (afternoon) *NASCAR Xfinity Series practice (afternoon) *NASCAR Cup Series Opening practice (afternoon) *NASCAR Truck Series NextEra Energy 250 race (evening)

Saturday

*Daytona 500 Cup Series final practice (morning) *NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying (morning) *ARCA Menards Series Lucas Oil 200 (afternoon) *NASCAR Xfinity Series Beef. It's What's for Dinner 300 (starts in late afternoon and finishes after sunset)

Sunday

* NASCAR Cup Series

(start in mid-afternoon, finish shortly after sunset)

History

In 2004, the Hershey Kisses 300 was stopped on Saturday for rain. The race could not continue on Sunday due to the 46th running of the Daytona 500. The race was completed on Monday, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. winning both the Busch Series race and Cup race in the same weekend. In 2005, a 5K run was added to the Speedweeks schedule, as part of the Rolex 24. In 2007, the

IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices o ...

hosted an open test on the road course configuration during the week after the Rolex 24. No race was scheduled, however. In 2012, the

was postponed for the first time in race history. In 2013, Budweiser became title sponsor of Speedweeks. Starting with the 2019 season, AdventHealth replaced Budweiser as the official sponsor of Speedweeks in a multi-year agreement. In 2021, a one-off extra weekend of Daytona road course races (originally a replacement race in 2020 for Watkins Glen) was added for the fourth week in Speedweeks, as a replacement for the cancelled

Auto Club Speedway Auto Club Speedway, originally opened as California Speedway, is a , low-banked, D-shaped oval superspeedway in unincorporated San Bernardino County, California, near Fontana. It has hosted NASCAR racing annually since 1997. It was also prev ...

weekend because of California COVID government restrictions. In 2022, the Busch Clash will be removed from the Speedweeks as it will be moved to the

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (also known as the L.A. Coliseum) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Conceived as a hallmark of civic pride, the Coliseum was commissioned in 1921 as a me ...

Former names

*Daytona Speedweeks *

DirecTV DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. I ...

Speedweeks * Hershey's Milk & Milkshake Speedweeks * Budweiser Speedweeks

Former events during Speedweeks

International Race of Champions International Race of Champions (IROC) was a North American auto racing competition, created by Les Richter, Roger Penske and Mike Phelps, promoted as an equivalent of an American motorsports All-Star Game. Despite its name, the IROC was primar ...

(usually held on Friday) *Daytona 500 consolation race *NASCAR Dash Series Daytona 200 (usually held the same day as the Busch Clash) *

UNOH Battle at the Beach The University of Northwestern Ohio Battle at the Beach was a nonpoints, all-star race that brought together the top drivers in NASCAR's lower-level series and club racing. A successor to the Toyota All-Star Showdown, held from 2003 to 2011 at ...

(held Monday & Tuesday prior to the Daytona 500, discontinued after grandstands used for the event were torn down) * Ferrari Challenge 2 Races that were held during the Rolex 24 weekend. The first race was normally held on Thursday and the second race being held on Friday. In 2022 the races will be held in April as a stand alone event. *Daytona road course weekend (one-off replacement for Auto Club 400 in 2021 after that race was cancelled due to

COVID-19 pandemic in California Ten of the first twenty confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States occurred in California, the first of which was confirmed on January 26, 2020. All of the early confirmed cases were persons who had recently travelled to China, as testing wa ...

): **

BrakeBest Select 159 The BrakeBest Select 159 presented by O'Reilly, also known as the BrakeBest Brake Pads 159, was a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race held at the Daytona International Speedway infield road course in Daytona Beach, Florida. Originally created ...

(Truck Series, Friday night the week after Daytona 500 weekend) ** Super Start Batteries 188 (Xfinity Series, Saturday evening) ** O'Reilly Auto Parts 253 (Cup Series, Sunday afternoon) * Busch Clash (held Tuesday before the Daytona 500; moved to

for 2022)

References

{{Daytona 500 Motorsport in Daytona Beach, Florida January sporting events February sporting events