For the first time in its 53-year history, the Daytona 500 has postponed its start for the following day. The cause is rain, which has been falling down upon the 2 1/2-mile tri-oval located in Daytona, FL since the early morning. The race is schedule to start Monday at noon and will be broadcast on FOX.
Raining again.Not looking good folks
— Steve O'Donnell (@odsteve) February 26, 2012
No way to get this event in tonight-sorry everyone-noon tomorrow for #daytona500
— Steve O'Donnell (@odsteve) February 26, 2012
A few times Sunday, there was hope that the race would, at least, start as crews began drying the track, but more rain fell later in the evening, washing away all the work that had been done.
According to SB Nation's Brian Neudorff, a meteorologist, the race could actually take place Tuesday.
WHAT DOES MONDAY LOOK LIKE?
Monday doesn't look much better during the day either. In fact it looks just as bad, if not worse. The earliest opportunity would be Monday night around 6-8 p.m. EST. If NASCAR decides not to run Monday, then it would have to wait until Tuesday. The forecast for Tuesday is mostly dry and partly sunny.
Meanwhile, SB Nation's NASCAR guru, Jeff Gluck, is blaming the NFL for the bad luck.
Blame Mother Nature and the NFL for this one. When the NFL was approaching a lockout, it was believed the owners would force an 18-game schedule on the players and thus move the Super Bowl to mid-February.
For more on the Daytona 500, head to SB Nation's stream. For more NASCAR, check out NASCAR Ranting & Raving.