The last time Donald Trump attended the NASCAR Cup Series season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, he was in his fourth year of his first term as President of the United States.
Five years later, less than a month after being inaugurated as the 47th Commander-in-Chief and just one week after becoming the first sitting president to attend a Super Bowl, Trump was back in attendance for the "Great American Race", and he once again had the opportunity to lead the field in the heavily armored presidential limousine known as "The Beast".
Trump is one of two sitting presidents to ever attend the Daytona 500, and he is the first to do so more than once. George W. Bush did so in 2004 before being elected to a second term later in the year.
Who was the young girl with Donald Trump at the Daytona 500?
Trump stood alongside Carolina Trump, his five-year-old granddaughter, as he took in the pre-race ceremonies at the "World Center of Racing".
Carolina is one of two children of Eric and Lara Trump. Eric is the third child and second son of the president with his first wife, Ivana Trump.
As many predicted due to the ominous weather forecast and dark skies, the race was indeed stopped after only a handful of laps following the green flag due to rain, and it was not resumed for another four-plus hours.
Early on during the delay, the president and his granddaughter departed from the track in Air Force One. It was anticipated that they would depart early, but the delay seemed to accelerate their plans.
The 2020 Daytona 500 was also halted early due to rain, and Trump also left during that rain delay; the race did not resume until the following evening. Ironically, that race was also won by a back-to-back winner.
There is no word yet on whether Trump plans to return to the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked Daytona Beach, Florida oval for the Daytona 500 in 2026.