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NASCAR: Daytona 500 postponed to Monday after 20 laps

By Asher Fair

DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 16: General view of cars during a parade lap before the start of the NASCAR Cup Series 62nd Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 16, 2020 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images)
DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 16: General view of cars during a parade lap before the start of the NASCAR Cup Series 62nd Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 16, 2020 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images) /
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The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season-opening Daytona 500 has been postponed to tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. ET after rain soaked Daytona International Speedway multiple times.

It started with a short delay that came about when the pace car was just about to pull off the track to get the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season and the 62nd annual Daytona 500 underway and rain began to fall at Daytona International Speedway.

It continued after the race finally got underway following a short track drying period. Just 20 laps had been contested when rain began to fall again.

Several hours later, just after the drivers were called back to their calls, it ended with another rainfall, this being the most significant of the three, and NASCAR officially postponed the season opener until tomorrow.

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The remaining 180 laps of the 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked superspeedway oval in Daytona Beach, Florida are set to be contested on Monday, February 17, with live coverage set to be brought to you by Fox beginning at 4:00 p.m. ET.

JTG Daugherty Racing’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr. started the race from the pole position and led the first 20 laps.

This marks the first Daytona 500 to be pushed to a Monday since the 2012 race was moved back to a Monday and ultimately did not finish until early Tuesday morning. This postponement was the first in race history, although there have certainly been no shortage of weather delays in Daytona 500s past.

The most recent significant weather delay took place back in 2014 when rain caused the race to be halted on lap 39 for an extended amount of time. A tornado warning ensued, and the grandstands were evacuated. The race did get back underway, but the delay of more than six hours caused it to last well into the night.

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Tune in to Fox tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. ET for the live broadcast of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season-opening Daytona 500 from Daytona International Speedway.

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