Rain pushes NASCAR Xfinity Series race to Monday Daytona 500 postponed

Persistent rain pushes NASCAR Xfinity Series race to Monday, raising concerns about postponing Sunday's Daytona 500 due to weather.

Persistent rain has led to the postponement of the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Daytona International Speedway to Monday, with the possibility of Sunday's Daytona 500 also being postponed. The race, originally scheduled for Saturday evening, will now take place on Monday at 11 a.m. ET due to the ongoing rain.

The forecast for Sunday does not look promising, with rain expected to continue throughout the day. This raises concerns about the possibility of the Daytona 500, scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, being postponed as well. The Daytona Beach, Florida area is expected to experience over 80% hourly rain chances until Sunday evening, with a significant drop in the likelihood of rain only occurring in the early hours of Monday morning.

If the Cup Series race is unable to proceed as planned on Sunday due to rain, it is likely to be rescheduled to take place after the Xfinity Series race on Monday. This decision has been prompted by the persistent rain and the need to ensure that both races can be completed within a reasonable timeframe.

The Daytona 500 has faced challenges in recent years due to rain, with the 2020 race being delayed until Monday and the 2021 race concluding late on Sunday night as a result of adverse weather conditions. The threat of rain has been a concern throughout the week leading up to the 500, prompting NASCAR to make adjustments to the race schedule to accommodate the unpredictable weather.

In an effort to mitigate potential disruptions caused by the rain, NASCAR rescheduled the ARCA race from Saturday afternoon to late Friday night, following the conclusion of the Truck Series race. This was done to ensure that the fourth-tier series could complete its race and to prevent teams from having to stay in Daytona for an extended period. The ARCA race, which combined with the Truck race, featured 21 cautions over 180 scheduled laps of racing between the two events and concluded early on Saturday morning.