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Could NASCAR run the Daytona 500 a day earlier like they did with the Busch Light Clash? Or are we looking at a Monday race if it rains on Sunday? Those questions, and more, answered.
There's a joke among many within the NASCAR world and that's if the sport is visiting your city that weekend, the chance of rain just increased substantially. Unfortunately, that is the case this weekend in Daytona Beach, Florida.
The weather has been a hot topic among NASCAR media and fans all week, and although the Truck Series got their full race in on Friday night, the rest of the weekend isn't looking quite as promising.
The final practice session for the much-anticipated 66th-annual Daytona 500 was canceled on Saturday morning, and the Xfinity Series race scheduled for Saturday afternoon will likely be canceled, too. But what about Sunday?
#NASCAR forecast for @DAYTONA w/ @RaceWeather:
Not looking good for @NASCAR_Xfinity today. Rain only increases thru the day. Odds of Racing < 10%
SUN still not good. Rain starts to break 6-8p but not sure it's enough. Odds of Racing 15-20% (20 feels high)— Brian Neudorff (@NASCAR_WXMAN) February 17, 2024
Frequently Asked Questions About NASCAR and Rain
There are always quite a few questions when it comes to weather and NASCAR, so let's go through some of those that are frequently asked to clear up any uncertainty.
Will NASCAR race in the rain? No, not at Daytona. Due to the nature of the racing at a track like Daytona, just a little bit of moisture will cause a massive pileup, so racing in the full-on rain is completely out of the question. NASCAR does have rain tires that can be used in damp conditions, but those are for smaller race tracks, not Daytona.
When will the race start after it gets done raining? Once the rain stops, NASCAR needs time to dry the track in order to get it race-ready. At Daytona, it can take anywhere from one to three hours to dry the track, depending on how much wind there is as well as moisture in the air (not to mention any additional rain).
If it rains, when will NASCAR make the call on postponement? There is no official policy for when NASCAR needs to make the call on whether or not they're postponing a race. A lot of it has to do with what the weather forecast looks like. In the past, we've seen them make the postponement call quickly, while other times we have seen the process take hours.
Will NASCAR Move the Start Time of the Daytona 500?
In an unprecedented move a couple of weeks ago, NASCAR moved the Busch Light Clash at the L.A. Coliseum up a full day due to an abysmal weather forecast, opting to run the race on Saturday night instead of the scheduled Sunday evening. That got many people asking, would NASCAR do that for the Daytona 500?
The answer is a firm no.
The Busch Light Clash was being run on a temporary race track and was also an exhibition race and not part of the 'official' schedule of the season. It has always been NASCAR's policy to postpone a race when weather is in the area as opposed to move it up.
If the weather forecast is correct, we're looking at this year's Daytona 500 being raced on Monday, with a start time yet to be determined. We'll still all be rooting for the rain models to be incorrect, though, and for The Great American Race to take place on its usual Sunday time slot.
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