DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – NASCAR has postponed the Daytona 500 until Monday afternoon because rain is expected throughout Sunday.
Facing a forecast that would leave no more than five hours to dry the track and possibly complete the 500-mile race, NASCAR called Sunday morning to change the day of its biggest event.
The postponement caused a double whammy on Monday. Originally, Saturday's rescheduled Xfinity Series race was scheduled for 11 a.m. ET on FS1, but persistent rain showers – which were expected to clear later in the morning – caused the race to be moved to around 9 p.m. ET on FS1, after the Daytona 500 took place at 4 p.m. ET on FOX.
With the relatively cool temperatures, it would likely take 120 to 180 minutes to dry the huge, 2.5-mile, high-banked track and prepare it for racing. While they can drive in wet conditions on road courses and relatively short tracks, they cannot drive in wet conditions on this large oval as this would quickly stress the tread tires (due to heat issues) and would also lead to potential visibility issues due to the spray from the rear of the car Cars.
“The worst thing is sitting around, sitting around at this huge race and this big event. You just want to get going,” said reigning Cup champion Ryan Blaney. “You want to do what you feel most comfortable with, and what people feel most comfortable with is driving and racing. I’m just looking forward to just getting it going and then seeing how it all turns out.”
“Waiting around and twiddling our thumbs stinks, but that’s part of our sport sometimes and you can be pretty good at it.”
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FOX Weather forecasts a 20 percent chance of rain Monday with temperatures in the 60s, dropping to 50 degrees by the end of the 500s.
NASCAR has 30 customized vehicles on site to dry the track using a mix of custom-built, high-pressure air systems that blow standing water off the track, and dryers and blowers that use burned kerosene to complete 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 in the Xfinity Series race.
According to NASCAR rules, if rain interrupts a race and it cannot be restarted, the race is official when it has already passed the halfway point or reached the end of the second stage. For the Xfinity race, an official race would take place any time after 60 laps. In the Daytona 500 it would be any time after 100 laps.
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has covered motorsports for decades, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene Magazine and the (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @Bobpock breed.