The stage “seems to be set” for President Donald Trump to attend Sunday’s Daytona 500 after previously serving as the “iconic NASCASR event’s grand marshal in 2020,” according to Chris Vinel of Daytona Beach NEWS-JOURNAL. As of late yesterday morning, there had been “no temporary flight restriction set for Daytona Beach airspace” and the White House “has not confirmed Trump’s scheduled whereabouts for Sunday.” Before the 2020 Daytona 500, Trump arrived on Air Force One, which “did a low flyover” past Daytona International Speedway. During his re-election campaign in May 2024, he showed up at the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte (Daytona Beach NEWS-JOURNAL, 2/12).
COULDN’T CARE LESS: 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace said that he “couldn’t care less” if Trump attends. Trump suggested in July 2020 that Wallace “should apologize after the sport rallied around him following the discovery of the noose in his assigned stall at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama.” Federal authorities ruled that the “noose had been hanging since October and was not a hate crime.” Wallace said at the Daytona 500 media day that he is “here to race.” Wallace: “Not for the show” (AP, 2/12).
