NASCAR postpones the Daytona 500 until Monday due to rain
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR has postponed the Daytona 500 to Monday afternoon because of rain expected throughout Sunday.
With the forecast of not having the five-plus hours needed to dry the track and possibly complete the 500-mile race, NASCAR made the call Sunday morning to change the day of its biggest event.
The postponement created a doubleheader Monday. Originally, the postponed Xfinity Series race from Saturday was set for 11 a.m. ET on FS1, but lingering showers — expected to clear later in the morning — resulted in that race moving to approximately 9 p.m. ET on FS1, following the Daytona 500 at 4 p.m. ET on FOX.
With the relatively cool temperatures, it likely would take 120-180 minutes to dry the massive 2.5-mile high-banked track to get it ready for racing. While they can race in wet conditions on road courses and relatively short tracks, they cannot race in any damp conditions on this big of an oval because it would quickly punish the treaded tires (because of heat issues) as well as create potential sight issues because of the spray from the rear of the cars.
"The worst part is the sitting around side of it, sitting around to do this huge race and this big event. You just want to get going," said defending Cup champion Ryan Blaney. "You want to do what you’re most comfortable with and what people are most comfortable with is driving and racing and that’s all I look forward to is just getting it going and then seeing how it all plays out and develops.
"The waiting around and twiddling your thumbs stinks, but that’s part of our sport sometimes and you get pretty good at it."
[Read more: Ranking 2024 Daytona 500 field 1-40: From Denny Hamlin to Anthony Alfredo]
FOX Weather forecasts a 20 percent chance of rain Monday with temperatures in the low-60s, dipping into the 50s by the end of the 500.
NASCAR has 30 custom-made vehicles on-site to dry the track with a mix of custom-built high-pressure air systems that blow standing water off the track and then dryers and blowers that use burned jet fuel to finish the drying process.
Team Penske’s Joey Logano is on the pole for the Daytona 500. Richard Childress Racing’s Jesse Love is on the pole for the Xfinity Series race.
If rain interrupts a race and it can’t be restarted, NASCAR’s rules are that the race is official if it is either past halfway or has reached the end of the second stage. For the Xfinity race, an official race would be anytime after 60 laps. For the Daytona 500, it would be anytime after 100 laps.
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
