Go Bowling 235

The Go Bowling 235 is a NASCAR Cup 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.

Go Bowling 235
NASCAR Cup Series
VenueDaytona International Speedway
LocationDaytona Beach, Florida
Corporate sponsorGo Bowling
First race2020
Distance252.70 miles (406.68 km)
Laps70
Stage 1: 16
Stage 2: 18
Final stage: 36
Most wins (driver)Chase Elliott
Most wins (team)Hendrick Motorsports
Most wins (manufacturer)Chevrolet
Circuit information
SurfaceAsphalt
Length3.61 mi (5.81 km)
Turns14

Chase Elliott is the defending race winner. The race weekend includes support events by the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series, respectively called the Sunoco 159 and UNOH 188.

History
Cars file through the International Horseshoe on a restart in 2020

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] 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.[4]

Chase Elliott won the event in its inaugural 2020 running, which saw the speedway's grandstand capacity reduced to 10% for social distancing and a brief stoppage due to lightning part way through the event.[5] 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.[6] The addition made the race the seventh road course date on the Cup schedule, the most in series history.[7] The race was also extended to 70 laps in length.[8]

Past winners
Year Day Date No. Driver Team Manufacturer Race Distance Race Time Average Speed
(mph)		 Report Ref
Laps Miles (km)
2020 Sunday August 16 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 65 234.7 (377.7) 2:37:30 89.39 Report [5]
2021 Sunday February 21 Report [7]

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. "NASCAR moving Watkins Glen race to Daytona road course". USA Today. AP. July 8, 2020. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  3. "Go Bowling, Daytona International Speedway partner for Go Bowling 235". Daytona International Speedway. July 31, 2020. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  4. Crandall, Kelly (July 30, 2020). "NASCAR adds chicane for Daytona road course". Racer. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  5. Willis, Ken (August 16, 2020). "NASCAR'S road-racing weekend a successful Daytona moment". Daytona Beach News-Journal. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
  6. Estrada, Chris (December 8, 2020). "Schedule shuffle: Fontana races move to Daytona road course". NBC Sports. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  7. 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.
  8. "Stage lengths for 2021 NASCAR season". NASCAR. January 25, 2021. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
Previous race:
Daytona 500		 NASCAR Cup Series
Go Bowling 235		 Next race:
Dixie Vodka 400
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