The Sights, Sounds, and Smells of the 2022 Daytona 500

The Daytona International Speedway is a colossus. The main grandstand can hold more than 120,000 fans and towers over the tri-oval track. The infield, which hosted fearsome GT car battles just three weeks prior at the 24 Hours of Daytona, was now filled with fans and their caravan of RVs. The sprawling motorsports campus dominates the surrounding area—everyone is either attending the race or working to make the show run smoothly.

Unlike in road-course racing, such as Formula 1, fans in the grandstand can see the entire track, providing nonstop live viewing action. While ginormous screens still come in handy for replays, fans have to rely far less on the monitors than in other forms of motorsport.

This year sees the introduction of the Next Gen race cars for the Cup Series; they sit lower and wider than before and feature body shells that more closely mimic their roadgoing counterparts. Other major changes include revised aerodynamics, a new five-speed transaxle, and a switch to center-locking wheels from the previous five-lug setup.

The NASCAR Cup Series field is massive. Forty drivers enter the race, and when the pack of cars blasts past the stands, their 5.8-liter V-8 engines emit a thunderous noise, sending seismic vibrations reverberating through the pavement and into your bones. Ear protection is a must.

Your ears get a brief respite when the cars reach the back straight, with the din of the cars now a hushed roar. The announcers’ frantic commentary echoes over the loudspeakers before the field zips past again, the fire-breathing howl of the engines permeating every fiber of your being.

In the garages and pit lane, tires are everywhere. Before the race begins, stacks of fresh rubber are lined up outside the garages. As the racing gets underway, they are transferred to the pit lane and splayed out around the pit box, ready to be fitted to the car when the drivers come in. You have to be on high alert if you’re watching from the pits, as burly crew members are constantly plowing through the crowd wheeling towers of new tires.

Pit stops bring chaos—and excitement. The drivers often hit the pits in groups of 10 cars or more, jockeying for position and occasionally bruising a bumper. When they make it to their pit stall, the crew rushes out and the wheel guns begin their shrill mechanical shriek. One team member dons a silver fireproof apron and hoists a Sunoco fuel can that can weigh close to 100 pounds, feeding gas into the bellies of the stock-car beasts. The acrid aroma of race fuel lingers in the air long after the cars have tire-squealed their way back onto the track.

Along with side-by-side racing, the Daytona 500 is a celebration of American cuisine. In the infield, the mouth-watering aroma of barbecue wafts up from the grills next to nearly every camper, making stomachs rumble. Up in the suites, there’s the fried, oily goodness of onion rings, french fries, hot dogs, and hamburgers.

For most of the race, the drivers do their best to keep their noses clean, running in packs and working together to use the draft to stay at the front. But as the race nears its end, the drivers get antsy and the caution flags start coming out. Cars smash into barriers and each other, crumpling bodywork and shredding tires. As the safety team works to clear the crashed cars, the chemical spice of burnt rubber floats up to the stands. While some fans are bound to leave the race disappointed that their favorite driver didn’t reach the finish line, for those who just want to witness close, nail-biting racing, the Daytona 500 delivers.