Daytona 500 postponed due to weather

The 62nd Annual Daytona 500 has been postponed to Monday, February 17 at 4pm ET on FOX. The decision to call the race was made after several attempts to dry the track and uncover the cars, but “mother nature” had other plans. Isolated showers kept slamming the superspeedway in Daytona Beach, FL, right as NASCAR was close to going racing.

During the pace laps to start the race, rain came for the first time, causing the start of the race to be delayed. President Donald Trump, who served as the Grand Marshal for the “Great American Race” left the track on Air Force One during the delay. When 2-time Daytona 500 champion Dale Earnhardt Jr. waved the green flag almost an hour after originally scheduled, it was Ricky Stenhouse Jr. leading the way.

Stenhouse continued to lead through 20 laps before rain hit once again, bringing another red flag. Twice during the delay, NASCAR told teams to uncover the cars and get ready as the track was almost dry enough to go back racing. Both times, within minutes, the skies opened up again and it was back to square one. Current running order of the Daytona 500 after 20 of 200 laps can be found at the bottom of this post.

After the final attempt, NASCAR finally made the call to postpone the event to Monday. Teams will be short for time as they will have to return to their shops in the Charlotte, NC area after the race, then turn around and travel to Las Vegas. NASCAR Cup Series haulers are currently scheduled to arrive at the Nevada speedway on Thursday.

Current Daytona 500 Running Order (After 20 of 200 laps)

1. #47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
2. #22 Joey Logano
3. #10 Aric Almirola
4. #6 Ryan Newman
5. #4 Kevin Harvick
6. #2 Brad Keselowski
7. #24 William Byron
8. #48 Jimmie Johnson
9. #13 Ty Dillon
10. #66 Timmy Hill (i)
11. #36 David Ragan
12. #17 Chris Buescher
13. #21 Matt DiBenedetto
14. #9 Chase Elliott
15. #77 Ross Chastain (i)
16. #88 Alex Bowman
17. #42 Kyle Larson
18. #1 Kurt Busch
19. #3 Austin Dillon
20. #41 Cole Custer #
21. #34 Michael McDowell
22. #8 Tyler Reddick #
23. #12 Ryan Blaney
24. #43 Bubba Wallace
25. #27 Reed Sorenson
26. #52 BJ McLeod (i)
27. #32 Corey LaJoie
28. #62 Brendan Gaughan (i)
29. #37 Ryan Preece
30. #16 Justin Haley (i)
31. #19 Martin Truex Jr.
32. #18 Kyle Busch
33. #20 Erik Jones
34. #95 Christopher Bell #
35. #11 Denny Hamlin
36. #14 Clint Bowyer
37. #38 John Hunter Nemechek #
38. #00 Quin Houff #
39. #51 Joey Gase (i)
40. #15 Brennan Poole #