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The Daytona 500, which will take place next weekend at the Daytona International Speedway, is the first points-paying race of the season. While the arena has a seating capacity of 125,000 people, attendance is usually somewhere between 150,000 to 175,000 for the 'Great American Race'. This year, there is a prediction of 150,000 people (according to PredictHQ) showing up to the speedway for the 67th running of the Daytona 500.
In anticipation of the large crowd, the Daytona International Speedway shared some helpful tips on Instagram for fans attending the event.
The guide, posted on their stories, recommended that audience members must show up to the event early. It also included the allowed number and sizing of bags and coolers permitted inside the arena, a suggestion to download the NASCAR Tracks app for easy access to tickets, and lastly, all vendors at the track would be taking cashless payments.
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In January, the speedway announced that they had completely sold out for the 2025 edition of the Great American Race. Speaking about the excitement regarding the event, as well as the sell-out being a signifier of the importance of the event, Frank Kelleher, President of Daytona International Speedway, said, via a release by Daytona International Speedway:
“The DAYTONA 500 continues to be a spectacle of elite racing and entertainment, and the consecutive sellouts just prove this event is one of a kind. You can quite literally feel the atmosphere from the moment Speedweeks begins. The crowd is buzzing with excitement and every team, from the driver to the crew chief, is eager to get their season started. It all comes to a head when that green flag drops on Sunday, Feb. 16, and I can’t wait to see what this year’s DAYTONA 500 has in store for us.”
The 500-mile-long race will take place on February 16 at 2:30 PM ET and will be broadcast on Fox Sports, with radio coverage by MRN and SiriusXM.
The Daytona 500's Sunday schedule released
Daytona International Speedway shared the schedule for the Daytona Speedweek, which starts on February 12 with the Daytona 500 qualifying. This would be followed by the Duel at Daytona on the 13, the Truck Series 'Fresh from Florida 250' race on the 14, and the Xfinity Series and ARCA Menards races on the 15.
February 16 will see the Cup Series main event, as well as driver introductions, which are preceded by a concert by Mr. Worldwide, Pitbull.
Hendrick Motorsports' William Byron will return to the speedway this year as the defending champion after securing his first Daytona 500 win last year.
