The weather gods have renewed their rivalry with NASCAR. The most-awaited Daytona weekend has been delayed due to severe rainfall for only the third time in its 66-year-old history. NASCAR authorities were quick to heed caution and announced the news to postpone the race to Monday at 4 p.m. ET. For NASCAR drivers, participating in the biggest stock car racing event of the year is an incredible opportunity. And hoping for NASCAR to change its mind, Venturini Motorsports driver Marco Andretti has expressed his desire to grace the wet track.

Andretti, who was the fastest driver in the ARCA practice session, was rearing to go at the Daytona International Speedway. While the part-time ARCA Menards Series driver has plans to race in the Truck Series in 2024, he began his season with the ARCA 200 on Friday. However, with the rain playing spoilsport, Mario Andretti slipped to a P25 finish.

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The Truck Series and ARCA races were lucky to catch a break in the downpour on Friday. However, that didn’t safeguard the drivers from being exposed to extremely risky racing conditions at the DIS. Following a violent crash between teammates Toni Breidinger and Dean Thompson in the final laps, the race underwent a white-flag caution with Gus Dean as the race leader.

The Truck Series race was infested with wrecks. As Nick Sanchez sped off to the victory lane, fortunately for him, he was ahead of the huge crash on Turn 2. With a caution flag raised in the final lap, Sanchez eventually led the restart and claimed the win. Watching the race after his outing at the track, Macro Andretti was unhappy with it.

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Taking a sarcastic dig at the authorities for letting the Truck Series drivers participate in such conditions, Marco Andretti tweeted, “They should just run Daytona in the rain this wknd. Possibly less yellows? #toosoon“

Friday’s ARCA race has been considered a case of mismanagement by many. Some have suggested that NASCAR should have postponed the weekend by a few days. While that might seem feasible in hindsight, the Daytona 500 Speed Week, being the biggest event of the year has a part to play in it. With the number of sponsors and broadcasting partners involved, every decision by NASCAR is under severe scrutiny.

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The 2024 NASCAR season’s unofficial opener at the Coliseum was also affected by inclement weather. With the Cup Series main event being affected on this peculiar Sunday, the Clash had to be rescheduled on urgent notice, causing a big loss for NASCAR in terms of fan attraction and event revenue.

How can NASCAR tackle its inclement weather problems?

The NASCAR community has been troubled by unfavorable conditions for a long time. Even in 2023, a huge chunk of races faced delays or large-scale rescheduling due to adverse weather. A few weeks ago, NASCAR invited three drivers from each manufacturer’s roster to test its new wet tire package at Bristol. Having been a part of the three-man entourage, Brad Keselowski has a fair idea of the positive changes NASCAR could implement.

Declaring the redundancy of windshield wipers in the sport, 2012 Cup champ Brad Keselowski claimed, “I think this sport kind of came to the realization that windshield wipers don’t really work on stock cars. The wet weather package had other elements that I thought were more effective that do apply, whether it be the defroster or defogger or whatever you want to call it, and the mud flaps.”

Apart from the lack of defoggers, normally NASCAR vehicles aren’t well equipped in the traction department. Wet conditions are a nightmare for a stock car unless the venue is a short track or a street course. Last season’s race in Chicago was a fine example of the same. With the Daytona International Speedway being characterized by its dangerous straights, this is a gamble NASCAR wasn’t willing to take.

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