The NASCAR Cup Series opener, the Daytona 500, is under serious threat, with a 100% chance of rain today. The weather has been a spoilsport for the NASCAR ever since the season started, and the trend seems to be continuing now at the Daytona International Speedway. With the dark rain clouds looming at large, NASCAR will need to bring in contingency plans, thus taking a big blow to successfully organizing a race weekend.

The scheduled timing for the race today is at 3:00 p.m. ET, and it is expected that rain will impact the start of the main event. This does mean that the race could potentially be postponed. ARCA did complete their fixture on Friday in the wake of the weather conditions, and the Xfinity Series drivers were lucky to find a window to run their qualifying race. However, it’s not only NASCAR that faces the brunt of this situation but also the fans, who are yet again left stranded.

A potential rescheduling not feasible for the fans

NASCAR could be staring at empty seats and low attendance for the 66th running of the Daytona 500, in case it is moved ahead. The weather just seems to be at loggerheads with NASCAR and its racing events, and going by the current situation, chances are looking grim. So if NASCAR is forced to reschedule the event to another date, they could be losing out on a good chunk of fans who were looking forward to Sunday.

It’s worth noting that fans have planned their stay well in advance. So the idea of shifting the race will have major repercussions. We all remember the sight of how a handful of fans turned up at the Coliseum for the Clash, and the Daytona 500 could suffer a similar fate. Despite the change in date, fans are expected to flock to the grandstands, but it won’t be a full house.

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NASCAR officials yesterday announced that the United Rentals 300, Xfinity contest will be moved to Monday. The race will kick off at 11:00 a.m. ET and will broadcast on FS1, the original broadcast network. So it can be expected that the Daytona 500 will run after the conclusion of the Xfinity race on Monday.

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However, it is not the first time that the crown jewel race has been interrupted by rain.

How rain has affected the Daytona 500 historically

There have been instances when rain played a major party spoiler for NASCAR and the fans over the years. Back in 2012, a similar situation unfolded, and the race was postponed from Sunday afternoon to Monday night. Unfortunately, rain again intervened, and the event had to be completed after midnight on Tuesday. Recently, in 2020, the race did start on Sunday, but again, due to the rain, it finished after midnight on Monday.

So going by history, all hopes are not lost, as the event can still go ahead as planned if NASCAR finds a suitable window. Also, NASCAR could decide to shorten the race and complete it on Sunday. This is not something new, as the Daytona 500 races back in 1965-66, 2003, and 2009 were shortened to get it completed in a single day.

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