O'Reilly Auto Parts 253

The Daytona road course, which uses elements of the 2.5 mi (4.0 km) speedway oval, is commonly used for the 24 Hours of Daytona sports car race and Daytona 200 motorcycle race. In March 2020, NASCAR announced the Busch Clash exhibition race would begin using the road course instead of the oval in 2021.^[1]

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted much of the 2020 NASCAR schedule, resulting in races being postponed or canceled. In July, the August-planned Go Bowling at The Glen road course race at Watkins Glen International was called off due to New York's quarantine restrictions for out-of-state visitors. In response, NASCAR elected to move the Watkins Glen event to the Daytona road course, two weeks before the speedway was to host the Coke Zero Sugar 400.^[2] Watkins Glen race sponsor GoBowling.com transferred its sponsorship to the new race,^[3] and WGI's trophy maker Corning Museum of Glass produced a glass trophy for the event.^[4] While much of the road course layout remained the same as the sports car configuration, NASCAR added a chicane exiting the oval's turn four to allow cars to slow down entering the braking-heavy turn one.^[5]

Chase Elliott won the event in its inaugural 2020 running, which saw the speedway's grandstand capacity reduced to 10 percent for social distancing and a brief stoppage due to lightning part way through the event.^[6] Although intended to be a one-off race, the event returned in 2021 as the second race of the season after the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway was canceled for concerns stemming from COVID-19.^[7] The addition made the race the seventh road course date on the Cup schedule, the most in series history.^[8] The race was also extended to 70 laps in length.^[9] O'Reilly Auto Parts assumed naming rights for all three national series races, with the Cup date being renamed the O'Reilly Auto Parts 253.^[10]