Rolex 24 Drivers have mixed feelings concerning the recent Daytona bus stop

Ryan Preece suffered a scare through the grass within the 2023 NASCAR Cup summer race at Daytona, fortunately walking away from the mid-air incident with minor injuries. The sport – and Daytona International Speedway – reacted quickly, representing the turnbuckle area leading into the turn officially generally known as Le Mans Chicane, but still popularly called the bus.

More changes have been made since then. The grass is gone and the boundary has been reshaped and raised, giving a tighter corner. And within the eyes of some drivers, the long-lasting corner of Daytona is now quite a bit less fun.

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After every week of practice and setup just before the green flag dropped, it looks just like the bus stop might be such an enormous think about the race.

Kind of like a “parking lot”

Matt Campbell, the defending overall winner on the Rolex 24, understands why the changes were made – he's just undecided they’ll make for higher racing.

“Every year there have been little adjustments that I've been a part of, but this year is the biggest change,” Campbell said Motorsport. “I feel there are good elements and bad elements. From a rafting standpoint it might be a bit safer and easier to avoid a foul situation or incident, but it surely definitely takes away a few of the fun factor since it's a bit slower, a bit harder.

Campbell, who might be making his seventh consecutive appearance on the Rolex 24, just isn’t alone on this diagnosis. It's greater than just an aesthetic whinge, his Porse Porske teammate Mathieu Jaminet, winner of the GTD Pro class at Daytona, explains.

“If you don't have cars in front of you [at night]you just arrive and go, “Where's the corner?” – Jaminet said. “You can't see any of the green part anymore, so it was really difficult to make it difficult for the driver.”

Porsche Motor Sports Porsche 963 Porsske Porske.

Photo: IMSA

Jaminet said the corner restriction felt slower, and that the changes “slightly killed the flow towards the exit… say, the second part of the chicane.”

It doesn't contradict the brand new challenge that the updated bus stop offers, and it has a glass half. As Jaminet put it, the updated version “now requires a bit more skill from the driver.” He thinks this could be an excellent thing. “It's not easy to get through.”

Greater risk factor

If Jaminet could make a suggestion, the French driver regrets that Daytona International Speedway would have kept the grass. While the move was made to make NASCAR racing safer on the high banks, it might embolden drivers to try riskier overtaking within the Rolex 24.

“Do the same arrangement, but with grass nearby,” he said. “I feel we might have avoided some cuts here and there. Now I feel like persons are more comfortable trying crazy overtakes because they feel like there might be a trickle down of left and right. And that's not what you need to see, because, because there might be big accidents there. “

Both Jaminet and Campbell added that the brand new layout made organising the automotive tougher and compelled drivers to regulate their lines, especially when calculating how much curb. The old cap was generous; The new edition forces drivers to be more careful in order that the automotive jumps out from under them.

Jaminet believes that the bus stop – or what's left – is crucial corner on the 12-turn, 3.56-kilometer road course, and for good reason. Many finals have fallen to this famous corner after 24 hours of tight racing, which puts the last line through the road. Managing an updated version could make the difference between winners and losers at this 12 months's Rolex 24.