NASCAR postpones Daytona 500 to Monday afternoon due to rain

The Daytona 500 has officially been moved back to Monday. NASCAR felt that they couldn’t get a window for Sunday and made the decision.

This will set up a doubleheader on Monday with the Xfinity Series race set to take place at 11:00 AM. It will be followed by the Daytona 500 at 4:00 PM. There was just too much rain coming in today for NASCAR to reasonably wait around for a window.

What could have been such an exciting weekend gets a wet blanket thrown over it.

The #Daytona500 has been POSTPONED to Monday at 4P ET. pic.twitter.com/C2CVrHeTqY

— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) February 18, 2024

Coming off the heels of the Netflix series, NASCAR has now had to alter two race weekends in a row. First starting at the Busch Light Clash. That race was moved up and entire day and on just a few hours notice. It went well, but there was an obvious hit to ratings and attendance at the race.

Now, the biggest event on the calendar is getting pushed to Monday. NASCAR will go two days without racing action on the track. The Daytona 500 this year will look a lot like the 2012 edition when the race was pushed back to Monday. Matt Kenseth came up with the win in that one.

Daytona 500 gets pushed to Monday

Last season we had a few Monday races due to the weather. However, it is a bit of a downer to see it happen for the Daytona 500. Nonetheless, we will see racing tomorrow, hopefully, two really good races.

In the lead-up to the race, we have seen both Ford and Toyota make big statements. Ford locked up the front row with Joey Logano on the pole and Michae McDowell right there with him in P2.

Then we had the Duels. Those two races provided us with great action. We had last-lap passes for the win in both races and last-lap passes in the battle of the open cars. Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell took the wins in the Duels and showed how good these new Camry bodies can be in the draft.

So, make plans, ask off from work, school, whatever you gotta do. The Daytona 500 is postponed. We are not going to see any racing today. Monday will clear up and we can sit back and enjoy a NASCAR doubleheader.