DAYTONA BEACH — The Great American Race could become a giant washout.
Bad weather is likely to push back the 3:11 p.m. start time of Sunday’s Daytona 500 and could postpone the event until Monday for just the third time.
Melissa Watson, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service, told the Orlando Sentinel that rain chances were expected to increase late Friday, reach about 50% to 60% Saturday morning, increase to 70% to 80% by afternoon and continue at a similar pace through Sunday until reducing slightly later in the afternoon.
“This is going to be light to moderate steady rainfall through this time period, with periods of heavy rainfall possible,” Watson said.
To avoid Saturday’s rain showers, NASCAR officials moved ARCA’s 200-mile 80-lap opener from 1:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday following the 250-mile Truck Series race.
A decision on the Daytona 500’s 66th running will not be made lightly.
Weather delays are not uncommon during NASCAR’s showcase event at Daytona International Speedway. But organizers have moved the race to Monday just twice – in 2012 and 2020 following hours-long delays.
The 2020 race ended with Denny Hamlin’s third Daytona 500 win, but is best remembered for Ryan Newman’s terrifying final-lap crash.
The 2012 race was a marathon spread over three days before Matt Kenseth won in overtime early Tuesday morning. His journey to Victory Lane began 30 hours after the scheduled Sunday start time and featured another two-hour delay after Juan Pablo Montoya hit a jet dryer on Lap 160 during a caution, causing fuel to leak and catch fire.
NASCAR officials, though, will do everything to avoid a postponement because many fans come long distances to Florida’s Surf Coast and spend several days in the area. A sellout crowd is expected Sunday.
Fans, drivers and organizers have waited out some long delays in recent years.
Michael McDowell’s 2021 win followed a 5-hour, 40-minute weather delay with drivers still having more than 425 miles to go when the race resumed. The 2014 race included rain, storms and two tornado warnings that forced a 6-hour, 21-minute delay before Dale Earnhardt Jr. raced to his second Daytona 500 win.
Weather has ultimately shortened the race’s 500-mile distance four times (1965, ’66, 2003, ’09). Drivers must complete at least 100 laps for the race to be official.
But Daytona International Speedway is well-equipped to prepare the track for racing in about two hours after heavy rains.
During 2019 Coke Zero Sugar 400 in July, a race marred by weather more frequently than the Daytona 500, maintenance crews deployed 17 Toyota Air Titans, 10 jet driers, two Buffalo snow blowers and two Elgin street sweepers with the goal to have the track ready in 75 minutes. More bad weather eventually pushed the Saturday race until Sunday, with Justin Haley winning a rain-shortened event.
The army of Titans travel in a formation to serve as an air-powered squeegee. The driers and blowers look to remove the remaining moisture. The sweeper then vacuums up any debris.
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