Latest Daytona 500 weather updates: NASCAR postpones the Cup race as rain continues
The Daytona 500 will not be run until Monday afternoon.
It’s supposed to be raining all day Sunday in Daytona, and at 9:30 a.m., NASCAR officially announced it has moved the Daytona 500 to 4 p.m. Monday.
NASCAR already postponed its Xfinity Series race to 11 a.m. Monday after only being able to get in the qualifying session during a soggy Saturday. The National Weather Service now shows a 100% chance of precipitation and heavy rain and winds throughout almost all of Sunday, too. This will be the first-ever Monday doubleheader at Daytona International Speedway.
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The track needs at least 90 minutes to dry, and any amount of rain will stop racing, so there was little chance of holding the race during the washout throughout Sunday. A brief drizzle during Friday’s Truck race elicited a red flag. The cars’ tires don’t have tread, so NASCAR would be expected to put any race under caution for any amount of rain, anyway.
While Monday’s forecast is mostly nice, if either of those races are interrupted during the action, NASCAR can opt to consider the race official if it has reached its halfway point, or the end of Stage 2.
Anticipating the rain this weekend, NASCAR held its ARCA Menards Series race following the Truck Series opener late Friday night. That race didn’t end until around 1:30 a.m. Saturday.
Rain fell throughout the day on Saturday. The Xfinity race start time was originally bumped 30 minutes from 5 to 4:30 p.m., but that effort to beat the rain turned out to be in vain.
Since roughly 3 p.m. Saturday, rain fell steadily and hasn’t really let up yet.
The Xfinity drivers were introduced at around 3:45 p.m. Saturday, but they never actually started their engines. And at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, NASCAR officially announced that the race was postponed. The Xfinity Series United Rentals 300 will still be broadcast on FS1, the race’s original broadcast network, on Monday.
Saturday morning’s rescheduled Xfinity qualifying session began about two hours late at 1:30 p.m., and Jesse Love Jr., the 19-year-old reigning ARCA Menards Series champion, won the pole during a brief respite from the rain. Saturday morning’s Cup practice, originally scheduled for 10:30 a.m., was canceled, leaving Cup drivers little to do all day Saturday.
Sunday’s weather
Rain, some heavy, is expected all day. Green flag was scheduled for 3:11 p.m., but officials announced in the morning that the race would be run Monday.
The Daytona International Speedway had announced a sold-out crowd for the event. Joey Logano is on the pole for “The Great American Race.”
Monday’s weather and schedule
Monday’s outlook is far better. According to the National Weather Service, there is a 40% chance for showers in the early part of the day, giving way to cloudy — but dry — skies in the afternoon with a high temperature in the low 60s, with winds out of the North at 10-20 miles per hour.
NASCAR XFINITY RACE AT DAYTONA, UNITED RENTALS 300
When: 11 a.m. Monday, weather permitting. The forecast improves considerably on Monday.
How to watch/listen: FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR
THE DAYTONA 500
When: 4 p.m. Monday, weather permitting. It will be run following the Xfinity race, which starts at 11 a.m.
How to watch/listen: FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (original broadcast networks all stay the same).
