The Daytona 500 weather forecast will get a lot of attention as NASCAR drivers get ready to start their engines on Sunday and thousands of fans pour into Daytona International Speedway. Mother Nature could throw a caution flag before the green flag even waves.
The race is set to begin at 2:30 p.m. Eastern time, and it may be a race to finish before a cold front arrives.
Could Rain Delay The Daytona 500?
During race weekend, an area of low pressure will be crossing the southern U.S., bringing the chance of showers and storms from Texas to Florida. And this system will take aim at Daytona Beach.
By Sunday evening, showers and thunderstorms are likely in Central Florida as the cold front sweeps through.
So, as long as the race finishes before the showers and storms from the cold front arrive, all should be okay, right? They might want to start this race early. Chances of thunderstorms are increasing closer to the start of this race.
One wild card, however, is if scattered showers develop well ahead of the front in the afternoon.
As we get closer to Sunday, the forecast will come into sharper focus. For now, we’re calling for increasing clouds with a low chance of showers in the afternoon.
Regardless, pack those ponchos if you’re making the trip to Daytona this weekend, and keep checking back for updates in hopes the skies stay clear, and the race can run full throttle.
Weather Impacts On Previous Race Years
Even though the Daytona 500 is held during Florida’s dry season, rain has still managed to soak the track from time to time.
Since 2020 alone, four races have seen delays:
2020: Rain pushed the entire event to Monday.
2021: Rain delays stretched the race past midnight, another Monday finish.
2022: Like 2020, persistent rain postponed the race to Monday.
2025: Rain delayed the race roughly three hours before it wrapped up later that night.
However, the most unusual delay came in 2012, when rain wasn’t the only hazard on the track.
2012: Rain postponed the race to Monday. Then, during the race, Juan Pablo Montoya crashed into a jet dryer, sparking a fire. This was the only Daytona 500 to finish on a Tuesday.
2003, 2009: Both races were called after the halfway mark due to rain. Only four Daytona 500s in history have failed to run the full distance because of weather.
The warmest Daytona 500 on record came in 1975, with a high of 85 degrees, while the coldest occurred in 1967, when temperatures topped out at just 48 degrees.
Jennifer Gray is a weather and climate writer for weather.com. She has been covering some of the world's biggest weather and climate stories for the last two decades.