Daytona Beach, FL – Mother Nature has won this year's Daytona 500, at least for one day.
Persistent rain on Sunday at Daytona International Speedway forced NASCAR officials to postpone its most prestigious race of the season until Monday at noon (et). It's the first time that the Daytona 500 has not run on its scheduled date in the 53-year history of this event.
Rain began falling on the 2.5-mile superspeedway roughly three hours before the start of the 500 mile race, which had been scheduled for 1:29 p.m. (et). Officials had hoped to run the race under the lights at Daytona this evening, but the radar showed more storms heading towards the Daytona Beach area.
According to the National Weather Service, the forecast for Sunday night at Daytona calls for an 80 percent chance of rain. Monday's weather outlook does not look that much better, with a 70 percent chance of precipitation in the forecast.
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