Sunoco 159

The Sunoco 159 is a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race on the Daytona International Speedway infield road course in Daytona Beach, Florida. Originally created in 2020 as a temporary event in response to races canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic, the race returned in 2021 for the same reason.

Sunoco 159
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
VenueDaytona International Speedway
LocationDaytona Beach, Florida
Corporate sponsorSunoco
First race2020
Distance166.06 miles (267.25 km)
Laps44
Stage 1: 12
Stage 2: 13
Final stage: 19
Most wins (driver)Sheldon Creed
Most wins (team)GMS Racing
Most wins (manufacturer)Chevrolet
Circuit information
SurfaceAsphalt
Length3.61 mi (5.81 km)
Turns14

Sheldon Creed is the defending race winner. The race is a support to the NASCAR Cup Series' Go Bowling 235 and NASCAR Xfinity Series' UNOH 188.

History
Trucks going through the frontstretch chicane in the 2020 race

The Daytona infield road course, which includes parts of the 2.5 mi (4.0 km) speedway oval, is most notably used for the 24 Hours of Daytona sports car race and Daytona 200 motorcycle race. In March 2020, NASCAR announced the NASCAR Cup Series' Busch Clash exhibition race would use the road course rather than the oval starting in 2021.[1]

Prior to schedule changes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chevrolet Silverado 250 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park served as the Truck Series' lone road course race; due to the pandemic, it was canceled in July.[2] A new race on the Daytona road course was organized, which officially replaced the also-canceled event at Iowa Speedway.[3] Known as the Sunoco 159, it was the first leg of the Triple Truck Challenge that provided monetary rewards for the winner.[4] Although much of the road course layout remained the same as the sports car configuration, NASCAR added a frontstretch chicane exiting the oval's turn four to allow trucks to slow down entering the braking-heavy turn one.[5]

Sheldon Creed, driving a Chevrolet, won the inaugural event in 2020, his second victory of the season to that point.[6] While the event was intended to be just a temporary race for 2020, the event returned in 2021 after the Cup and Xfinity Series races at Auto Club Speedway were canceled due to concerns related to COVID-19.[7] Although the Trucks did not have an Auto Club race, their round at Homestead–Miami Speedway was replaced by the Daytona road course event as a support to the upper series.[8] The race became one of four Truck road course events, the most in series history.[9]

Past winners
Year Day Date No. Driver Team Manufacturer Race Distance Race Time Average Speed
(mph)		 Ref
Laps Miles (km)
2020 Sunday August 16 2 Sheldon Creed GMS Racing Chevrolet 46* 166.06 (267.47) 2:02:21 81.435 [6]
2021 Friday February 19 [8]

References
  1. Cain, Holly (March 4, 2020). "NASCAR's season-opening Busch Clash moving to Daytona road course in 2021". NASCAR. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  2. "CTMP cancels NASCAR Trucks and CSBK events for 2020". Inside Track Motorsport News. July 8, 2020. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  3. "First time in history: NASCAR's three top-tier series, ARCA to compete on Daytona International Speedway's iconic road course, August 14-16, 2020". Daytona International Speedway. July 8, 2020. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  4. Cain, Holly (August 13, 2020). "Triple Truck Challenge kicks off at Daytona Road Course". NASCAR. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  5. Crandall, Kelly (July 30, 2020). "NASCAR adds chicane for Daytona road course". Racer. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  6. Cain, Holly (August 16, 2020). "Sheldon Creed Takes NASCAR Trucks Race at Daytona Road Course". Autoweek. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  7. Estrada, Chris (December 8, 2020). "Schedule shuffle: Fontana races move to Daytona road course". NBC Sports. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  8. "New 2021 Event Dates & Details Announced". Homestead–Miami Speedway. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  9. Nguyen, Justin (December 8, 2020). "NASCAR's road course love story continues with Daytona RC addition to create Florida tripleheader, Fontana removed". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
Previous race:
NextEra Energy 250		 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Sunoco 159		 Next race:
Strat 200
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