As we approach the first race of the 2024 Cup Series season at Daytona, darkening clouds continue to threaten the event’s schedule. With the Daytona 500 being postponed to Monday only twice in its long history, the chances of rain playing spoilsport a third time are high. Amid the potential loom, here’s a look at how things have gone awry on past occasions when rain intervened in a Daytona 500.
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The 2012 race was the first time in history that the event had to be pushed a day forward. It was also the only time that the race had to take place over three days. The first rainout that puddled the track on Sunday pushed the race to noon on Monday. Eventually, it began only after the sunset in the city and finished early on Tuesday.
An event that delayed things further in 2012 was when Juan Pablo Montoya’s Chevrolet lost control and hit a jet dryer on the track’s bank. The crash flamed the entirety of turn 3 at the speedway and caused a 2-hour red flag period. Matt Kenseth came out on top as the winner at the end of the long event.
NASCAR’s 2021 season held the 63rd running of the Daytona 500. The race had a long delay of 5 hours. Even before rain stopped the race, several drivers including Aric Almirola and Matt DiBenedetto were caught in a Big One that ended their day. Shortly after the wreck, rain intervened and stopped racing altogether. After the five-hour wait, matters resumed once again and Michael McDowell came out the winner after a fire and wreck-filled final lap.
The longest rain-caused delay in NASCAR history
The 1973 Southeastern 500 at the Bristol Motor Speedway is the longest race in NASCAR history having run over two weeks. The race began on March 11th but was halted by rain after the first 52 laps. The rain continued over the next two days, forcing NASCAR to reschedule it to an off weekend two weeks later.
Driving for Junior Johnson’s #11 team, Cale Yarborough qualified on the pole and led the first day’s 52 laps. When the race resumed on March 25th, he led the rest of the race and won it by 2-laps. He set a modern-era record by leading all 500 laps at the speedway. Coming back to the current status of things at Daytona, rain is predicted to wash the track out until late evening on Sunday. The race will likely be postponed or rescheduled in light of the updates.
