Today's Daytona 500 began under sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-70s, with Fox' Chris Myers noting the race is taking place in a "historic old school, new wave, sold out stadium.” Fox' Darrell Waltrip said of the old Daytona Int'l Speedway grandstand, "It's been replaced by this technologically driven, beautiful stadium" ("Daytona 500," Fox, 2/21). Meanwhile, DIS "now has 33 Fanatics retail locations," an 80% increase compared to pre-Daytona Rising (Daytona Beach NEWS-JOURNAL, 2/20). The Daytona Beach NEWS-JOURNAL's Scott Kent writes under the header, "Daytona Rising Puts Speedway On Right track." The N.Y. TIMES' Peter Kerasotis writes under the header, "Daytona, A Track That Opened In 1959, No Longer Feels Like An Antique."
A number of celebrities are at today's race. Actor Gerard Butler served as Grand Marshal, wrestler John Cena was the pace car driver and Baseball HOF-elect Ken Griffey Jr. was honorary starter. Others in attendance include Nationals RF Bryce Harper, actor Cuba Gooding Jr. and model Charlotte McKinney (THE DAILY). Meanwhile, the Xfinity Series race yesterday "was trending on Twitter nationwide" with the #PowerSharesQQQ300 hashtag (Daytona Beach NEWS-JOURNAL, 2/21).
