The 66th running of the Daytona 500 is scheduled for Sunday, February 18. As is tradition the Speedweek includes practice runs, a single-car qualifying, and the Daytona Duels, all of which will precede the main race day. However, it appears that bad weather in Daytona Beach will not make way for a smooth season-opening weekend.
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Following threats against the Busch Light Clash earlier this month, rain and thunderstorms continue to surround the upcoming weekend too. According to the latest update from Daytona Beach News-Journal, the Sunday race has a 66% chance of being marred by rain. Conditions are worse for the Xfinity opener on Saturday with a taller precipitation forecast of 82%.
Should it rain on Saturday, it will be the ARCA Menards opener that is affected too. The Craftsman Truck Series race on Friday and the Daytona 500 qualifiers on Wednesday and Thursday appear to be on safer grounds for now. The Speedweek will officially begin at 8:15 p.m. ET on Wednesday with the single-car qualifying session.
As the week progresses towards Sunday, the chances for a postponement of the Daytona 500 are high should the weather conditions remain unchanged.
Has rain caused the Daytona 500 to be postponed before?
In all these years since 1959, the Daytona 500 has only been postponed to Monday twice. There have been several instances where the race was delayed or shortened but the first time that it was pushed to a later date altogether was in 2012. Officials on the scheduled day that year had spent more than 4 hours trying to find a window to dry the track but didn’t have any luck. They chose to reschedule it for Monday and Matt Kenseth took the win.
The second time the push came was in 2020. Former U.S. president Donald Trump had served as the grand marshal and waved off the event but rain began showering down as early as the pace laps. After an hour-long stoppage, the race resumed and Ricky Stenhourse Jr. began leading the grid when another string of showers halted things. The finish was postponed until Monday.
Rain has shortened the Daytona 500 four times in the last 65 years. Fred Lorenzen was named the victor after turning just 133 laps in 1965. Richard “King” Petty earned his first Daytona 500 win in 1966 in a race that was shortened to 198 laps because of heavy showers. Michael Waltrip’s glory in 2003 is the shortest Daytona 500 in history with just 109 laps. Matt Kenseth is the latest driver to lift the Harley J. Earl trophy without going the full distance. He won the event in 2009 after just 152 laps.
