NASCAR postpones Daytona 500. Here’s when the Cup Series season opener will happen

Shane Connuck, Scott Fowler
·1 min read
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NASCAR has officially postponed the Daytona 500.

With rain expected all day Sunday at Daytona International Speedway, NASCAR announced Sunday morning that The Great American Race will instead be run at 4 p.m. Monday.

It’s the third time since 2012 that NASCAR has had to move the Daytona 500. The 2020 race was suspended when it rained after 20 laps.

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As rain was expected throughout Saturday and Sunday, NASCAR held its ARCA Menards Series race on Friday night following the Truck Series opener. It canceled Saturday morning’s Cup practice and ran the Xfinity Series qualifying session about two hours after it was scheduled. The Truck and ARCA Series races will turn out to be the only two that were run in the Friday-Sunday time period at Daytona.

NASCAR also bumped up the start time of Saturday’s Xfinity Series race 30 minutes, from 5 to 4:30 p.m., but the race didn’t begin on time and in fact never began at all, although driver introductions were held.

With the Daytona 500 postponed, the cars of several NASCAR drivers sit inside the garage at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla., on Feb. 18, 2024. The race is scheduled to be run on Monday, Feb. 19th, 2024, at 4 p.m.
With the Daytona 500 postponed, the cars of several NASCAR drivers sit inside the garage at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla., on Feb. 18, 2024. The race is scheduled to be run on Monday, Feb. 19th, 2024, at 4 p.m.

The Xfinity race is now scheduled for 9 p.m. Monday (having been moved yet again from an 11 a.m. Monday start time due to lingering showers Monday morning. It will follow the Daytona 500. This will constitute the first-ever Monday doubleheader at Daytona International Speedway.

With a generally good weather forecast on Monday afternoon, both races should be able to be run. The original broadcast networks remain unchanged. The NASCAR Xfinity Series race will be broadcast on FS1. The Daytona 500, with Joey Logano on the pole, will be broadcast live on FOX.

Madison Marsh, the Daytona 500 honorary pace car driver and Miss America 2024, will have to wait a day to make her laps around Daytona International Speedway. Because of constant rain, the race was postponed from Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024, to Monday, Feb. 19, 2024.
Madison Marsh, the Daytona 500 honorary pace car driver and Miss America 2024, will have to wait a day to make her laps around Daytona International Speedway. Because of constant rain, the race was postponed from Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024, to Monday, Feb. 19, 2024.