Menu
NASCAR heads to Daytona International Speedways next weekend for the 66th running of the Daytona 500. It’s the biggest race of the year and Speedweeks serves as the build-up for the race. Without equipment for drivers to race on the wet track at Daytona, what happens if it rains?
Also Read:
Generally speaking, Mother Nature has been pretty kind to NASCAR for Daytona 500 Qualifying. Speedweeks being an extended race weekend also gives NASCAR some flexibility if the weather dampens the weekend. Again, keep in mind, that there is no wet-weather racing equipment used at Daytona.
Qualifying
Qualifying is scheduled for Wednesday evening. The last time Daytona 500 qualifying was rained out in 2003, NASCAR simply rescheduled the session. There is flexibility to do that on the Speedweeks schedule. While the Duels are scheduled for Thursday evening, the earliest on-track activity that day is ARCA Menards Series practice at 4:05 PM local time according to NASCAR.com.
NASCAR could easily move the qualifying session to Thursday morning or Thursday around noon or so if the forecast looks grim. This means they can run the weekend as close to as planned as possible. Given that Wednesday is the first day of on-track activity, it’s unlikely NASCAR would move the start time up a day or even a few hours. They could also simply wait out the rain if it doesn’t take too long.
However, if qualifying is rained out, then NASCAR will set the starting lineups of the duels by the rulebook. NASCAR will likely use its performance metric highlighted on NASCAR.com, which aggregates previous race finishing position, fastest lap, and Owner’s Points position to determine the field. The Duels would then determine the entire starting lineups, including the “Open” teams.
The Duels
The Duels at Daytona have only been canceled by rain once, in 1968. Most recently, the 2nd Duel in 2021 was delayed by rain, but eventually finished deep into the night. There is not as much flexibility for NASCAR if the Duels get rained out.
On-track activity starts at 1:30 PM local time on Friday and 10:30 AM local time on Saturday. Running the race on Sunday morning is likely not an option because, if a team wrecks their car in the Duels, it’s tough to say they could prepare a backup in time for the race. NASCAR could maybe push the Duels to early in the morning on Friday, or even push the races up to Wednesday after qualifying. This all depends on the forecast, but, neither of these solutions is ideal.
If the Duels do get rained out, then qualifying speeds will determine the starting lineup. If the doomsday scenario happens with everything getting rained out, then NASCAR would revert back to the rulebook, likely using metric qualifying and Owner’s Points. According to Jayski, there is a provision that NASCAR can revert to a random draw for “Open” teams if they do not have Owner’s Points from the previous year.
After 50 years of fairly good weather for the sport’s biggest race, NASCAR has had 5 of the last 15 Daytona 500s hampered by rain. This includes one rain-shortened race (2009), two rain-delayed races (2014 and 2021), and two postponed races (2012 and 2020).
Unfortunately, NASCAR does not have much flexibility for the Daytona 500. One reason is that, with 4 different series on the track throughout the weekend, NASCAR likely can’t push the race up a day like they did with the LA Coliseum. That flexibility just does not exist.
The second, and likely the most impactful reason, is TV ratings. The Daytona 500 is NASCAR’s biggest race, and, in 2023, it pulled in nearly double the amount of viewers of the next highest-viewed race (the Chicago Street Race).
NASCAR and Fox took a big hit in the TV ratings at the LA Coliseum because of moving the race up a day, and neither party wants to see that happen during the sport’s biggest race. The Clash was an unprecedented and unique event that went against NASCAR’s normal procedure, and it may never happen again.
Essentially, NASCAR is at the mercy of cold fronts, clouds, and precipitation.
It’s not unprecedented for race start times to be moved up as much as an hour to accommodate the forecast. Nashville in 2023, for example, was moved up to avoid potential thunderstorms coming later that evening. However, that can only help so much.
If the forecast is that bad, NASCAR may move the start time up a bit, but, only a little bit. The time slot they have on Sunday is key to getting the TV numbers they need from the sport’s biggest race.
If rain comes and drenches the track, NASCAR simply has to wait it out. Not only do they have to wait out the rain, but they also have to consider drying the track. Track drying can take between 90 minutes to 2 hours, so, if the rain stops at 8 PM local time, the race is not getting restarted until at least 10 PM.
While postponing the race is the absolute last resort, NASCAR will pull that lever if they must. If the race is postponed, it will likely be restarted sometime on Monday afternoon. The 2020 race, for example, was rescheduled for 4 P.M. the following day. The 2012 race had persistent rain on Monday after originally scheduling a Noon ET start, so, NASCAR held off until Monday night to host that race.
All reports indicate that NASCAR will attempt to run the Cup Series race on Sunday no matter what, but, the lower series are not as fortunate. The ARCA Menards Series race will be moved to 10:30 PM ET on Friday night.
As for the Xfinity Series race, Monday afternoon appears to be a potential target. Chris Knight originally reported that 9:00 AM on Monday was the target move for the ARCA race should it be postponed, and Xfinity would run after. NASCAR has moved Xfinity to this slot before, most recently in 2004, when the Xfinity Series race was rained out and completed on Monday afternoon, one day after the Daytona 500.
NASCAR made another weather-related decision on Friday, allowing the Cup Series garage to open 3 and a half hours early to allow teams to repair their cars for practice. It seems NASCAR is not optimistic about the weekend going totally to schedule.
