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Daytona 500 postponed: Why it was moved to Monday
Frank Kelleher, president of Daytona International Speedway, stopped by Good Day Orlando to talk about the Daytona 500 race being postponed. He said it takes 3-4 hours to properly dry the track, as well as at least 3 hours to conduct the race and with the weather forecast and rain, there just wasn't a window to do it. The Daytona 500 has been postponed to Monday.
It was a soggy start to the 2024 Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. Sunday's race has been postponed to Monday, Feb. 19, because of the wet and rainy weather.
The Daytona 500 is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Monday, following the conclusion of the NASCAR Xfinity Series race, which will start at 11 a.m. That race was supposed to happen Saturday, but was also pushed to Monday due to inclement weather.
It marks the first-ever Monday double-header at Daytona International Speedway. The Xfinity Series will be broadcast on FS1, while the Daytona 500 will air on FOX 35 and FOX stations.
Why was the Daytona 500 postponed?
Poor weather in Florida. In order to put on a safe race, the track at Daytona International Speedway has to be completely dry – and remain relatively dry for the duration of the race. Unfortunately, the weather forecast for Florida was wet and rainy for much of Sunday.
Frank Kelleher, president of Daytona International Raceway, told FOX 35 that it takes between 2-3 hours to dry the track – a process that includes several custom trucks that use high-powered air to blow water off the 2.5-mile track, followed by heat to dry it out. The race itself lasts upwards of three hours – a window that simply wasn't going to be there on Sunday, Kelleher said.
Ahead of Monday's race, here is every Daytona 500 winner since the first race in 1959, according to NASCAR.com.
- 1959 - Lee Petty
- 1960 - Junior Johnson
- 1961 - Marvin Panch
- 1962 - Glenn "Fireball" Roberts
- 1963 - Tiny Lund
- 1964 - Richard Petty
- 1965 - Fred Lorenzen
- 1966 - Richard Petty
- 1967 - Mario Andretti
- 1968 - Cale Yarborough
- 1969 - LeeRoy Yarbrough
- 1970 - Pete Hamilton
- 1971 - Richard Petty
- 1972 - A.J. Foyt
- 1973 - Richard Petty
- 1974 - Richard Petty
- 1975 - Benny Parsons
- 1976 - David Pearson
- 1977 - Cale Yarborough
- 1978 - Bobby Allison
- 1979 - Richard Petty
- 1980 - Buddy Baker
- 1981 - Richard Petty
- 1982 - Bobby Allison
- 1983 - Cale Yarborough
- 1984 - Cale Yarborough
- 1985 - Bill Elliott
- 1986 - Geoff Bodine
- 1987 - Bill Elliott
- 1988 - Bobby Allison
- 1989 - Barrell Waltrip
- 1990 - Derrike Cope
- 1991 - Ernie Irvan
- 1992 - Davey Allison
- 1993 - Dale Jarrett
- 1994 - Sterling Marlin
- 1995 - Sterlin Marlin
- 1996 - Dale Jarrett
- 1997 - Jeff Gordon
- 1998 - Dale Earnhardt
- 1999 - Jeff Gordon
- 2000 - Dale Jarrett
- 2001 - Michael Waltrip
- 2002 - Ward Burton
- 2003 - Michael Waltrip
- 2004 - Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- 2005 - Jeff Gordon
- 2006 - Jimmie Johnson
- 2007 - Kevin Harvick
- 2008 - Ryan Newman
- 2009 - Matt Kenseth
- 2010 - Jamie McMurray
- 2011 - Trevor Bayne
- 2012 - Matt Kenseth
- 2013 - Jimmie Johnson
- 2014 - Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- 2015 - Joey Logano
- 2016 - Denny Hamlin
- 2017 - Kurt Busch
- 2018 - Austin Dillon
- 2019 - Denny Hamlin
- 2020 - Denny Hamlin
- 2021- Michael McDowell
- 2022 - Austin Cindric
- 2023 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- 2024 - TBD