NASCAR At Daytona 2014: Coke Zero 400 race day weather forecast

UPDATE: Persistent rain forced NASCAR officials to postpone the race. It will instead be run on Sunday at 11 a.m. ET.

Friday featured scattered areas of showers and thunderstorms across the Florida Peninsula. These showers and storms, shortened Sprint Cup qualifying, and delayed the start of the Nationwide race. Because the weather pattern has not changed we could see a possible delay again thanks to more afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms.

Yesterday with showers forming near and around Daytona International Speedway I got a lot of questions on social media about the rain. I figure I will get a lot of the same questions today so decided to put a FAQ section to today’s NASCAR weather forecast.

Will the race tonight get delayed? With another round of widely scattered showers and storms forming this afternoon across Florida, we could get another delay like we saw yesterday for the Nationwide race. It is also just as possible that storms miss Daytona International Speedway later this evening and there is no delay. If it were me, I’d prepare for no rain delay if I was going to the track for the race or planning to watch it on television, but not be surprised if there ends up being one.

Can NASCAR run a full race tonight? Absolutely, I don’t see why they can’t. Most of the storms and showers that form in the afternoon heat of the day begin to diminish or come to an end around 7 and 8 p.m. EDT when the sun begins to set. While a delay can’t be ruled out, I still anticipated a complete race later on tonight.

What are the odds of racing tonight for the Sprint Cup race? I’d say the odds of racing tonight are around 90 to 95%.

Will NASCAR have to race on Sunday? No, as I mentioned above, while I can’t rule out a rain delay for the start of the race. With lights and rain ending during the evening hours. We should be able to get the race in tonight.