Air Force Thunderbirds kick off Daytona 500 with incredible flyover

The Daytona 500 was postponed for a day, but those who stuck around got to see quite the show, even before the race got underway. Air Force Thunderbirds kicked off the Daytona 500 with an incredible flyover Monday afternoon.

Six Air Force Thunderbirds participated in the flyover, and it was greeted with a large applause from the fans in attendance.

You can see the flyover below:

My soul left my body on this one. #DAYTONA500 pic.twitter.com/NSqXpFWRMk

— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) February 19, 2024

Flyovers have become a great way to kick off sporting events and there’s no bigger even in NASCAR than the Daytona 500.

In addition to a flyover, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson was also a part of the pre-race festivities. The Rock had the honor of saying “Drivers, start your engines.”

Before signaling the engine command, the one-time Miami football player spoke to the atmosphere inside Daytona International Speedway, and the honor he feels holding such a highly coveted position in the world’s most famous race.

“It’s awesome to be here. So for everybody at home, I just if you haven’t been to a race, you gotta go because this is incredible,” Johnson said. “… I have chills. This is incredible. There’s a word I like to use all the time called mana, and you can feel the mana on the track, on this pavement. Over 100,000 people the people are going crazy.

“I’m honored to be the grand marshal, to say those words and what I love most — I met all the drivers. They’re so amazing and welcoming. But what you realize is, they’re all after that shot at greatness. And I cannot wait for the race to start.”

NASCAR moves start time for Xfinity Series’ United Rentals 300 to one hour after Daytona 500

Fans who are attending the Daytona 500 will be able to stay and watch racing well into the night.

The Xfinity Series was ready to roll on Saturday, but rain forced the race to move to Monday in the early afternoon. However, a consistent drizzle made even that start-time not feasible any longer.

Now, NASCAR will be running the Xfinity Series race approximately one hour after Monday’s Daytona 500, which should put green flag somewhere around 9 p.m. for the race.

“NEWS: Due to inclement weather this morning, the #XfinitySeries start time is being moved to approximately one hour after today’s #DAYTONA500,” the Xfinity Series posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “The adjusted start time will now be approximately 9 p.m. ET on FS1, @MRNRadio and @SiriusXMNASCAR Radio.”

Alas, it’s not the greatest scenario, but at least it seems like we’ll get both races in on Monday, even with some hiccups due to rain this morning.