2024 Wawa 250
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| Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 22 of 33 of the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series | |||
 | |||
| Date | August 23, 2024 | ||
| Official name | 23rd Annual Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola | ||
| Location | Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 2.5 miles (4.0 km) | ||
| Distance | 102 laps, 255 mi (410 km) | ||
| Scheduled distance | 100 laps, 250 mi (400 km) | ||
| Average speed | 117.182 mph (188.586 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Joe Gibbs Racing | ||
| Time | 49.672 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | A. J. Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing | |
| Laps | 35 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 20 | Ryan Truex | Joe Gibbs Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | USA | ||
| Announcers | Rick Allen, Steve Letarte, and Jeff Burton | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | MRN | ||
The 2024 Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola was the 22nd stock car race of the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series, and the 23rd iteration of the event. The race was held on Friday, August 23, 2024, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, a 2.5 miles (4.0 km) permanent quad-oval shaped superspeedway. The race was originally scheduled to be contested over 100 laps, but was extended to 102 laps due to an overtime finish. Ryan Truex, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would stay consistent throughout the race, leading 28 laps and winning after leading when A. J. Allmendinger spun on the final lap, bringing out the caution. This was Truex's third career NASCAR Xfinity Series win, and his second of the season.[8] Allmendinger led a race-high 35 laps before getting spun by Parker Kligerman on the final lap, officially credited with a 24th place finish.[9][10] Justin Allgaier won both stages and led 16 laps, finishing 7th and taking the regular season points lead away from Cole Custer. To fill out the podium, Chandler Smith, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, and Parker Kligerman, driving for Big Machine Racing, would finish 2nd and 3rd, respectively.
Background
The race was held at Daytona International Speedway, a race track located in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since its opening in 1959, the track has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosts ARCA, AMA Superbike, USCC, SCCA, and Motocross races. It features multiple layouts including the primary 2.5 miles (4.0 km) high speed tri-oval, a 3.56 miles (5.73 km) sports car course, a 2.95 miles (4.75 km) motorcycle course, and a .25 miles (0.40 km) karting and motorcycle flat-track. The track's 180-acre (73 ha) infield includes the 29-acre (12 ha) Lake Lloyd, which has hosted powerboat racing. The speedway is owned and operated by International Speedway Corporation.
The track was built in 1959 by NASCAR founder William "Bill" France, Sr. to host racing held at the former Daytona Beach Road Course. His banked design permitted higher speeds and gave fans a better view of the cars. Lights were installed around the track in 1998 and today, it is the third-largest single lit outdoor sports facility. The speedway has been renovated three times, with the infield renovated in 2004 and the track repaved twice — in 1978 and in 2010. On January 22, 2013, the track unveiled artist depictions of a renovated speedway. On July 5 of that year, ground was broken for a project that would remove the backstretch seating and completely redevelop the frontstretch seating. The renovation to the speedway was done by Rossetti Architects. The project, named "Daytona Rising", was completed in January 2016, at a cost of US $400 million, placing emphasis on improving fan experience with five expanded and redesigned fan entrances (called "injectors") as well as wider and more comfortable seating with more restrooms and concession stands. After the renovations, the track's grandstands included 101,000 permanent seats with the ability to increase permanent seating to 125,000. The project was completed before the start of Speedweeks.
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
- (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
Qualifying
Qualifying was held on Friday, August 23, at 3:00 PM EST.[11] Since Daytona International Speedway is a superspeedway, the qualifying system used is a single-car, single-lap system with two rounds. In the first round, drivers will have one lap to set a time to determine positions 11-38. The fastest ten drivers from the first round move on to the second round, to determine positions 1-10. Whoever sets the fastest time in Round 2 will win the pole.[12]
The second round of qualifying was cancelled due to lightning strikes in the area. The starting lineup will be determined by speeds in the first round. Chandler Smith, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would score the pole for the race, with a lap of 49.672, and a speed of 181.189 mph (291.595 km/h).[13]
No drivers would fail to qualify.
