Daytona International Speedway enters lightning delay ahead of ARCA practice, Duels

All on-track activity is on hold right now at Daytona International Speedway due to rain and lightning in the area. Tonight is the NASCAR Duels at Daytona where we will see two more open cars lock into the field for Sunday and the rest of the starting lineup officially set as well.

The Duels at Daytona are set to go off later tonight. Before the rain entered the area, ARCA was set to practice this afternoon. However, that is now on hold. There is a possibility that the ARCA Menards Series will practice later tonight or tomorrow.

Hopefully, this is just a small storm cell and we can get back to the action soon. Unfortunately, it looks like there will be a lot of rain in a short period of time. The track is definitely going to have to be dried.

Jeff Gluck of The Athletic took this photo from the media center. The grandstands are almost lost in the downpour.

Currently a torrential downpour at Daytona. Might not get the Duels started on time depending how long this lasts. It’s like a LOT lot lot. pic.twitter.com/xEIfHaGRV9

— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) February 13, 2025

UPDATE: The ARCA Menards Series practice and Craftsman Truck Series practice scheduled for tonight have been canceled due to the weather. Those series will likely try to get in a short practice before qualifying, but that depends on the weather and the schedule at this point.

It feels like we are about to have a repeat of last year. Staying up until 1:30 AM for the Truck Series and ARCA to finish racing on Friday night felt like an eternity.

Good news for now, it doesn’t look like there is a great chance of rain later this week. This could just be a pop-up shower that produced a lot of rain. NASCAR has worked quickly to modify the schedule.

Daytona Duels to set the field for 500

Last night, Martin Truex Jr. and Jimmie Johnson locked themselves into the Daytona 500 field. They were the two fastest open cars in single-lap qualifying. That is a huge deal for the two former champions. More importantly, Chase Briscoe won the pole and Austin Cindric took the outside spot on the front row.

Tonight, two more open cars will lock into the Daytona 500 field. If Helio Castroneves is not the fastest open car in his race of the Daytona Duels, then he will have to use his Open Exemption Provisional. That would mean 41 cars will start the 500.

Castroneves is racing in the first race of the Daytona Duels. He is going up against Justin Allgaier, Chandler Smith, and JJ Yeley for a spot in the 40-car field. In the second Duel race, Corey LaJoie, Anthony Alfredo, and BJ McLeod will race for a spot in the Daytona 500.

The Daytona Duels are set to go down tonight, weather permitting. Let’s hope that we are able to get on-track action tonight. I’ve got nightmares about all of the rain last year, I want to avoid a redo of that.