The final two tracks I’ll visit this season are very special to me. I said previously that Road America is my favorite track, but Daytona and Sebring hold a very special place in my heart. I’ve raced at Daytona and Sebring more than at any other tracks. I’ve scored victories at both tracks, and I’ve suffered humiliating defeats at both.
The most frightening thing I’ve ever done in real life racing was stopping on the banking in NASCAR turn 2 at Daytona. I know that doesn’t sound scary, but hear me out.
I had qualified 4th on the grid, and was in the outside lane in the second row behind the pace car on the warm-up lap. Something happened (I think some work was being done somewhere on the track), and the pace car brought the field to a complete stop in NASCAR 2. The banking at Daytona is much higher and steeper than it looks on TV. At speed, it’s not scary being on the banking. But at a dead stop, it’s like being on the side of a building with gravity doing everything it can to knock you off. It felt like my car was going to tumble down the banking, and there was nothing I could do.
Naturally, nothing bad happened. It just felt like it was going to. The second scariest thing I ever did in racing was going into NASCAR 3 at the Charlotte Roval in a mid-90’s Chevy Camaro with a front-end alignment issue. I was flat-out, and the car was shaking so much, I could barely focus my eyes ahead of me. As scary as that was, I would gladly do it again rather than having to stop on the banking at Daytona again.
Despite my love for the road course at Daytona, I have to admit the track is not the best, especially for an under-powered car like my Honda Civic Type R. The Civic does well in the infield section, but gets chewed up on the long, banked NASCAR section. In my practice sessions, there have been times when I ran my fastest lap, only to be passed by a higher horsepower car. At the moment, my fastest lap is a good three seconds slower per lap than the fastest cars.
I don’t hold out much hope for a good finish, but I’m still looking forward to two races at Daytona, one in the day, one in the night. It should be fun.
Here’s a look at the road course configuration at Daytona:
