DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The 66th running of the Daytona 500 has been postponed until 4 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 19 due to rain. The postponement was announced early Sunday morning as a massive storm system passed over Florida and offered little to no opportunity to get the race in at its scheduled Sunday afternoon start time.
Rain had already wreaked havoc on the weekend portion of Speedweeks, as final practice for the Daytona 500 had already been scrubbed due to rain Saturday. The rain also caused the postponement of the NASCAR Xfinity Series season-opener scheduled for Saturday, which will now take place at 11 a.m. Monday before the Daytona 500.
NEWS: The #DAYTONA500 has been postponed to Monday at 4 p.m. ET due to inclement weather.
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 18, 2024
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The days of what was once referred to as "Bill France Weather" in Daytona are long gone. After the first 53 Daytona 500s were not postponed by rain a single time, the last 12 years have now seen rain cause the race to be postponed to Monday three times (2012, 2020, 2024) -- including three out of the last five years -- and be pushed to late Sunday night two more times (2014, 2021).
Only four Daytona 500s in history have been shortened due to rain. Fred Lorenzen won in 1965 after rain stopped the race at 133 laps, while Richard Petty took the checkered flag two laps short of the scheduled finish at Lap 198 due to rain. Michael Waltrip won the shortest Daytona 500 in history after rain stopped the event at 109 laps in 2003, and Matt Kenseth won the most recent rain-shortened Daytona 500 in 2009, which was stopped at Lap 158.
Kenseth also won the first-ever postponed Daytona 500 in 2012, while Denny Hamlin won the race following a postponement to Monday in 2020. The 2014 Daytona 500 was won by Dale Earnhardt Jr., while Michael McDowell -- the outside polesitter for this year's race -- won in 2021.
