DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The 66th annual Daytona 500 will not be dominated by sunshine as a slow-moving frontal boundary threatens to delay the Super Bowl of NASCAR.
The FOX Forecast Center expects the first round of precipitation to impact Central Florida on Saturday, with chances of rain on both Sunday and Monday.
“It’s almost like it’s pointed at the southern states into Central Florida. By the way, the wettest that they’ve had during the Daytona is almost an inch of rain, 0.98. And that was there was a delay of more than six hours, six hours and 22 minutes, and that was back in 2014,” said FOX Weather meteorologist Craig Herrera.
Forecast models show between 1–3 inches of rainfall falling over the Interstate 4 corridor, and without protection over the 2.5-mile track, much of the rain will fall over the Daytona International Speedway.
The race is scheduled for Sunday afternoon, after practices on both Friday and Saturday.
The usual 200 laps take between three and four hours to complete, and any delays can add substantial time to the race.
Races in both 2020 and 2021 were impacted by rain, with the 2020 contest being postponed until the next day due to persistent rainfall.
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According to NASCAR, track drying can take anywhere from 90 to 180 minutes using giant jet dryers.
“We use our buffalo turbine air blowers, and we use our jet dryers to combine and apply heat to the surface, just like you would think of a hair dryer,” Thomas Davenport, a manager of track services for NASCAR, previously stated. “You know when you’re drying your hair out, right, you use the towel and ring your hair out to get the excess moisture off and then the hair dryer is just getting what’s left behind. It’s the same way with the jet dryers. Jet driers come behind and take out the rest of that moisture that’s in the top layer of the asphalt.”
Along with precipitation on Sunday, cooler weather will come, with temperatures more than 10 degrees below average.
A typical mid-February day would see high temperatures in the middle 70s, but because of the rain and a stiff wind out of the north of between 20-25 mph, the mercury will be held closer to 60 degrees.
Umbrellas are prohibited from the grandstands, meaning that coats and rain ponchos will be the only sources to keep people dry and out of the elements.
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In the event that the Daytona 500 is officially postponed, fans will have the opportunity to use their tickets at any sanctioned NASCAR event.
Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Bubba Wallace, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Joey Logano are all expected to participate in the race, but the event is one of the most unpredictable events in stock car racing.
You can watch the 66th annual Daytona 500 on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX and FOXSports.com.