Saturday and Sunday’s on-track activity for NASCAR’s national series could be impacted by rain at Daytona International Speedway.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series’ 300-mile race is scheduled for Saturday afternoon, while the Daytona 500 Cup race is scheduled for Sunday. NASCAR moved the ARCA Menards Series race from early Saturday afternoon to late Friday due to the incoming weather. The National Weather Service’s forecast isn’t kind to Saturday afternoon racing, and Sunday’s racing chances are uncertain too.
Here’s the weather forecast for Daytona Beach as of Saturday morning:
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Daytona 500 weather forecast
Saturday
The National Weather Service’s forecast calls for an 90% chance of rain on Saturday, with rain chances starting in the morning and increasing throughout the day. The NWS notes rain could be heavy at times. The NASCAR Xfinity Series race is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET. The NWS forecasts rain throughout the evening and into Sunday morning.
Sunday
The National Weather Service forecasts a 90% chance of rain for Sunday as well, noting the rain “could be heavy at times”. The current hourly forecast calls for a 81% chance for precipitation at the scheduled race time (2:30 p.m. ET, 1:30 p.m. CT). It falls to a 50% chance in the evening. It’ll be cloudy skies regardless. Forecasted temperatures top out at about 61 degrees and hover in the high 50s throughout the day and evening.
Monday
The NWS forecast calls for a 20% chance of rain on Monday, mostly before lunch time, with the percentages slowly falling throughout the day. Historically, a Sunday rainout has produced a Monday night Daytona 500, and Monday night’s forecast currently calls for mostly skies and a minimal chance of rain.
Has the Daytona 500 been rescheduled or postponed?
Not yet, but it’s becoming more likely.
The 2024 Daytona 500 is still scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m. CT Sunday and be televised by Fox. The forecast for race time makes it unclear as to whether or not NASCAR will have a window to get the race in on Sunday, with showers expected in the area in the early afternoon.
NASCAR already postponed the Xfinity race to Monday.