Nascar – Austin Dillon as a symbol at Daytona

Austin Dillon made his mark by returning the No. 3 to the top of the timesheet at Daytona, on the oval where Dale Earnhardt died 13 years earlier. If the return of this legendary number has divided the fans, the reigning champion of the Nationwide Series seems in any case ready to honor it. With a time of 46 (at 128 mph), the Richard Childress Racing driver is ahead of the other RCR Chevrolets, the No. 195,109 of Brian Scott and the No. 33 of Matt Crafton following a few hundredths behind.

The stables of the Nascar Sprint Cup Series only had one day of testing to prepare for the 2014 season which will begin on the Florida oval on February 23 (after the Sprint Unlimited and the Budweiser Duels) since the showers on Thursday forced the organizers to cancel the first of the two days. For the occasion, the cars had a spoiler offering a little more downforce.

Nascar also indicated that a new qualifying format would be implemented in the Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series and that a new qualifying system for the Sprint Cup was also under consideration after Daytona 500.