The 2012 Daytona 500: Our Complete Coverage From Start To Finish

This StoryStream covered everything leading up to the Daytona 500, but for the coverage of the actual race itself – including the jet dryer explosion and other bizarre happenings – the following link is the place to go:

Many people in the NASCAR industry will tell you there’s nothing worse than rain at a racetrack, and there’s plenty of truth in that statement.

Rain means no racing, which means boredom and frustration and disappointment for fans and drivers alike.

Here were my thoughts as I concluded my Daytona 500 Sunday morning weather update:

Well, the radar cleared out earlier this, but scattered showers and a few thunderstorms have formed this afternoon and could linger into the early evening. Despite the developing rain showers this afternoon, we should be good to go at 7 p.m. with only a small chance of a delay.

NASCAR has moved the start time of the 2012 Daytona 500 again, this time postponing the Great American Race until 7 p.m. Monday due to continued rain in the Daytona Beach area.

After two weeks of mostly clear weather, NASCAR was plagued by a storm system Sunday that washed out the 500 for the first time in its 54-year history.

The start time for today’s Daytona 500 – which has already been postponed a day – is set to be pushed back further, as rain continues to fall at Daytona International Speedway.

NASCAR had rescheduled its biggest race for noon ET today after persistent rain washed out the Daytona 500 for the first time in its 54-year history on Sunday.

Daytona International Speedway President Joie Chitwood III took a seat in the track’s media center and braced himself for questions about the unprecedented postponement of the Daytona 500.

“A long day,” he said. “We attempted our best to try to get the track dry. Seemed like every time we got close, another pocket of rain showed up.”

Update Monday AM: Daytona start time has been changed to Monday night.

It’s 2012 Daytona 500 race day at Daytona International Speedway – again. We’ve got the scheduled race start time, the TV/radio schedule and some other facts about the postponed NASCAR Sprint Cup Series opener for you below.

After rain postponed the Daytona 500 for the first time in its 54-year history, NASCAR will try again Monday afternoon at 12:01 p.m. EST

But NASCAR will not be able to escape the rain with the noon start time. Numerous showers and even a few thunderstorms are expected through the morning and into the afternoon.

For the first time in its 54-year history, the Daytona 500 has been postponed due to rain.

NASCAR will try again to run the Great American Race at noon EST on Monday morning, though the weather forecast for that time remains iffy.

For a brief period this morning, I was thinking, “Maybe, just maybe,” as rain to the west appeared to be making a move to the north. Since then, the rain continues to stream in from the west and it doesn’t look like we will see it end long enough to dry the track and go racing for an official race.

There is so much rain and moisture coming in off the Gulf and it is heading in a more easterly direction. It is riding a stalled boundary like a train on railroad tracks.

The Daytona 500 will not start on time today.

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.

Assuming the Daytona 500 takes place today – and that might be a big assumption, considering the iffy weather forecast for NASCAR’s biggest race – whoever wins the event will spend the next four days traveling the country on a national media tour.

After the Daytona 500 winner goes to Victory Lane and does dozens of media interviews tonight, he (or she) can either celebrate all night or opt for a few hours of sleep.

There’s a lot of benefits to being a NASCAR fan, but one of the biggest drawbacks is the sport’s lack of consumer tech offerings.

For example: There is no iPhone app, and there is no place to legally view a live stream of today’s Daytona 500. Yep, that’s right – NASCAR and its partners haven’t been able to come to an agreement on how live streaming would work for the Sprint Cup Series when FOX is broadcasting the races (NASCAR.com/Turner owns the digital rights, so there’s a conflict).

Honestly, it doesn’t look very good. It will rain today, and the race will be delayed and there’s a good chance it could be postponed.

Now that we are seeing rain on radar throughout Florida, we can answer the following questions: When will the rain arrive? Will rain hit the track? And, what is the likelihood that the Great American race is delayed or postponed?

It’s 2012 Daytona 500 race day at Daytona International Speedway, and we’ve got the actual race start time, the TV/radio schedule and some other facts about NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series opener for you below.

What time does the Daytona 500 actually start? The Daytona 500 is listed as an 1 p.m. Eastern start time, but it’s important to note the green flag won’t actually fly until 1:29 p.m. So if you’re looking to tune in just as the race is about to start, perhaps flip on your TV at 1:17 p.m. – that’s when co-grand marshals Kate Upton (the Sports Illustrated swimsuit model) and Glee’s Jane Lynch will give the command for drivers to fire their engines. WWE superstar John Cena will then wave the green flag at 1:29.

Finally – finally! – all the hype and buildup for the 2012 Daytona 500 is over and race day itself has actually arrived at Daytona International Speedway. Let’s take a look at the lineup and starting grid for NASCAR’s biggest race.

Carl Edwards will lead the field to the green flag today (1:29 p.m. Eastern, FOX) thanks to the pole position he earned in last Sunday’s time trials. His Roush Fenway Racing teammate, Greg Biffle, will start alongside him, also because of the time trials.

New to NASCAR? Maybe just want to refresh yourself on some of the storylines leading into Sunday’s Daytona 500? Here are a few notes of interest to give you an idea of what to watch for in the Great American Race.

How unpredictable is the Daytona 500? In the last 10 years, there have been 10 different winners.

In a wide-open race where it seems like just about anyone can win, finding a favorite can be a tough thing to do.

But if there is one constant in restrictor-plate racing, it’s that the cars owned by Richard Childress will almost certainly be toward the front of the field and contending for the win.

Danica Patrick’s maiden race as a full-time NASCAR Nationwide Series driver didn’t go as planned.

Patrick was turned by JR Motorsports teammate Cole Whitt on lap 50 of Saturday’s 120-lap Drive4COPD 300, sending her crashing into the wall for the second time in three days. She finished a disappointing 38th and was initially angry about the incident, asking on the team radio, “What the fuck was he thinking?”

In a weekend of unlikely winners, James Buescher took the checkered flag under caution in Saturday’s Drive4COPD 300 Nationwide Series race with wreckage from the cars of the likely winners strewn behind him in Turn 4 at Daytona International Speedway.

Buescher, a first-time winner in the series, took advantage of a last-lap wreck involving front-runners Trevor Bayne, Tony Stewart, Elliott Sadler, Joey Logano, Kurt Busch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kyle Busch to score the victory, one day after rookie John King won his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race in his first trip to Daytona.

Danica Patrick captured the pole during qualifying for Saturday’s DRIVE4COPD 300, the first woman to do so for a NASCAR race at Daytona International Speedway. Any chance of her making history as the first woman to win, though, was destroyed on the 48th lap when she was bumped by teammate Cole Whitt and wrecked. Video of her crash -- and her expletive-filled response -- is after the jump.

And her response -- or at least the PG version that aired on TV:

Rick Santorum went from underdog to frontrunner in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, and now his campaign is sponsoring a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car it hopes can do the same thing.

The Rick Santorum for President campaign announced Saturday will sponsor Tony Raines’ No. 26 Front Row Motorsports car in tomorrow’s Daytona 500. Raines is a decided underdog who entered Speedweeks without a guaranteed spot in NASCAR’s biggest race, but he made it based on his time trials speed.

Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue cover girl Kate Upton and three players from the Super Bowl champion New York Giants highlight the celebrity list for the 2012 Daytona 500.

Upton will be co-grand marshal for the race along with Glee star Jane Lynch, who played Ricky Bobby’s mother in Talladega Nights. Both women also appear in the upcoming The Three Stooges movie (the actors who play the Stooges will be there, too).

In the previous 53 editions of the Daytona 500, the 35 gentlemen who have been victorious have come from a variety of locations.

We’ve seen winners from as far west as Washington (Derrike Cope) and California (Ernie Irvan, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick) to as far north as Wisconsin (Marvin Panch, Matt Kenseth) and Massachusetts (Pete Hamilton).

The threat of rain remains a concern for Sunday’s Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

Clouds will linger after the cold front on Saturday, and it will be gray through the morning but some clearing will take place in the afternoon. The main concern still remains the chance of rain Sunday with a disturbance coming out of the Gulf of Mexico.