2024 Daytona 500 a washout: NASCAR sets up first Monday Cup, Xfinity Daytona doubleheader

Ryan Pritt, Daytona Beach News-Journal
·2 min read
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DAYTONA BEACH — The winner of the 2024 Daytona 500?

Mother Nature. At least, so far.

NASCAR pulled the plug early on Sunday morning, postponing the Great American Race to Monday at 4 p.m. The event will run after the opener in the Xfinity Series, the United Rentals 300, which was moved from Saturday evening to Monday at 11 a.m. with wet weather plaguing the Daytona Beach area all weekend.

The back-to-back events will create the first NASCAR Monday doubleheader at Daytona.

Race fans walk through the Fan Zone heading back to their motorhomes, Sunday morning February 18, 2024 after news broke the Daytona 500 has been postponed to Monday.
Race fans walk through the Fan Zone heading back to their motorhomes, Sunday morning February 18, 2024 after news broke the Daytona 500 has been postponed to Monday.

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Broadcast assignments, both on the TV and radio fronts, remain unchanged. The United Rentals 300 will air on FS1 with the Daytona 500 appearing on Fox. Both races will be broadcast on MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR radio.

Fans with Saturday grandstand and/or Hard Rock Bet Fanzone tickets may attend both races.

This will be the third Daytona 500 in recent memory to at least partially be run on Monday. In 2012, the Great American Race was postponed to Monday night and finished after midnight on Tuesday while the 2020 Daytona 500 was postponed shortly after the start, finishing on Monday evening.

Monday's forecast looks a little more encouraging, at least in the afternoon. There is currently a 38% chance of rain with showers possible in the morning. Partly cloudy, but dry conditions are expected later in the day with a high of 61 degrees.

When the green flag finally drops on the Daytona 500, Joey Logano, the 2015 500 winner and two-time Cup Series champion, will lead the field to green with 2021 Great American Race winner Michael McDowell alongside. Those two locked up the front row via single-lap qualifying times on Wednesday.

Race fans capture a rainy moment just inside the FanZone at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024. The Daytona 500 was postponed until Monday at 4 p.m.
Race fans capture a rainy moment just inside the FanZone at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024. The Daytona 500 was postponed until Monday at 4 p.m.

The rest of the field was set by the Daytona Duels on Thursday night with Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell giving Toyota a sweep of the two 150-mile races. They'll start third and fourth respectively.

Jimmie Johnson, a two-time winner of the Daytona 500 (2006 and 2013) and a seven-time Cup champ, was one of four cars to race his way into the event on Thursday with B.J. McLeod and JJ Yeley coming up short and not qualifying.

Xfinity drivers wait under umbrellas backstage before driver introductions for the start the United Rentals 300 on Saturday at Daytona International Speedway. That race and the Daytona 500 were postponed until Monday.
Xfinity drivers wait under umbrellas backstage before driver introductions for the start the United Rentals 300 on Saturday at Daytona International Speedway. That race and the Daytona 500 were postponed until Monday.

Only six drivers in the field — Logano, McDowell, Denny Hamlin (2016, 2019, 2020), Austin Dillon (2018), Austin Cindric (2022) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (2023) — have won the Daytona 500. Stenhouse will look to become the first repeat champion since Hamlin just a few years ago.

For updates throughout Monday's NASCAR races, check in at www.news-journalonline.com and follow sports columnist Ken Willis (@HeyWillieNJ) and sports editor Ryan Pritt (@RPritt) on X.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Daytona 500 postponed to Monday, will start after NASCAR Xfinity race