DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – After the race was delayed due to the rain, the Daytona 500 officially started Monday afternoon. Rain in the morning, though, meant the speedway had to push back another race to Monday night making it the first time the 500 was part of the doubleheader.
“Even today when we woke up, the weather again was not on our side. We were supposed to run the Xfinity race this morning at 11 a.m. but now we have pushed that race until after the completion of the 66th running of the Daytona 500,” said Speedway President Frank Kelleher.
Racing fans who traveled in from all over the world were relieved when the sunny skies started appearing.
“It’s nice it’s sunny. Instead of over clouds and chance of sprinkles to slow down and stop, now it’s sunny and it will be good the whole race,” said Jim Armstrong from Ohio.
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While some fans made backup plans ahead of time booking hotels and flights for Tuesday just in case, others had to leave or had a long night ahead of them after the race.
“We already had plans, a hotel room, and everything set up so we’re just going to wait it out, watch the weather and head back after the races,” said Jason Vacca from Tampa.
It did mean an even bigger economic boost though for the area. With gaps in the schedule, some fans even got to meet their favorite drivers while out and about in Daytona Beach killing time.
“The day was great. Seeing all of the drivers out in public and realizing that they’re human too. They got to eat, they have fun with their family so we enjoyed meeting them,” said Troy Samero.
For those who could not make it but still had tickets, NASCAR’s policy states ticketholders have 60 days after the rescheduled event to contact the ticket office and exchange their tickets for another race or next year’s 500. There are no cash refunds.
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