A short track is being built on the
backstretch at Daytona International Speedway and will serve as a venue
for a two-day event in 2013 for short-track drivers and teams before the
Daytona 500, a NASCAR official said on Wednesday.
Irwindale
Speedway in California was the track for the NASCAR All-Star Showdown
for eight years. The two days of races included the NASCAR K&N Pro
Series West and East. It served as a stepping stone for drivers Joey Logano, David Gilliland and Travis Pastrana before they moved up to the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series.
The
track in Daytona is proposed as a .4-mile oval. The plan is to have a
NASCAR K&N Pro Series race, a Whelen Modified Tour race and a Whelen
All-American Series late model race. Series champions and race winners
will be invited to compete. All other entrants will have to qualify on
time to race in the events.
International drivers
from the NASCAR series in Canada, Mexico and Europe will also be invited
to the races. A NASCAR official said the short-track races in Daytona
are the next step in the evolution of the All-Star Showdown races.
The
races will be scheduled the Monday and Tuesday before the Daytona 500,
called the dark days of Daytona because no races were scheduled at the
track during Speedweeks. They are expected to be run at night.
The
NASCAR All-Star Showdown was canceled at Irwindale Speedway in August.
The track hosted the Showdown, a nationally televised event, from 2003
to 2010.
The races at Daytona will give short-track
drivers and teams across the country a chance to showcase their skills
and provide a stage for young drivers, George Silberman, the NASCAR vice
president of regional and touring series, told the Daytona Beach
News-Journal.
"From a racing perspective, this is
featuring the future stars of the sport at Daytona," Silbermann said.
"From a community standpoint, it's reconnecting Speedweeks; it removes
Daytona's dark days."
More details about the race and the new track will be made Friday, according to a NASCAR official.