The Daytona 500 will not start on time today.
Daytona 500 2012: Start Time Delayed By Rain
Rain began falling at Daytona International Speedway at roughly 10:30 a.m. today and has yet to let up, meaning NASCAR’s scheduled start time of 1:29 p.m. EST is nothing but a fantasy.
It takes approximately two hours to dry the high-banked 2.5-mile oval – and it’s still being soaked by a heavy drizzle – so any racing won’t happen until at least late this afternoon.
Daytona has lights, though, and if the rain lets up, we could see the Daytona 500 decided in primetime. NASCAR will do everything it can to get the race in today since the forecast for Monday looks even worse.
The Daytona 500 has never been postponed by rain in its 53-year history. But this is also one of the latest dates ever for a Daytona 500, because NASCAR moved it two weeks in an effort to avoid a conflict with the Super Bowl when it was believed the NFL would expand to an 18-game schedule.
Despite the wet conditions, Lenny Kravitz went on with the pre-race show as scheduled and performed four songs, including “Are You Gonna Go My Way?” and “American Woman.” Fans clad in brightly colored rain ponchos huddled close together for Kravitz’s concert and the pre-race driver introductions that followed.
Stay tuned here and follow me on Twitter (@jeff_gluck) for more updates on when the Daytona 500 will actually begin.
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