While Thursday night's Duel at Daytona to set the starting lineup for Sunday afternoon's 67th annual Daytona 500 has gotten underway as planned, it wasn't all smooth sailing at Daytona International Speedway throughout Thursday afternoon.
Rain and lightning caused a number of schedule changes, which has become pretty much a lock when it comes to the season-opening NASCAR race weekend at the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked Daytona Beach, Florida oval over the years.
ARCA Menards Series practice was rescheduled to Friday afternoon from 1:30 p.m. ET to 2:15 p.m. ET, a time slot that had initially been reserved for qualifying.
Multiple schedule changes caused by rain at Daytona
As a result, the starting lineup for Saturday afternoon's season-opening Ride the ‘Dente 200 has been set by the 2024 owner point standings.
Thursday ARCA practice at @DAYTONA has been canceled due to inclement weather. Per the rule book, the field will now be set by final 2024 ARCA Menards Series Owner Point standings, with William Sawalich set to start on the General Tire Pole with Lawless Alan alongside on the… pic.twitter.com/QnzYQtm1Ap
— ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) February 13, 2025
This race is set to be shown live on Fox beginning at 12:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, February 15.
Truck Series practice was also canceled on Thursday, but rather than replace Friday afternoon's qualifying session (3:00 p.m. ET) with practice, qualifying is still scheduled to take place. The Fresh From Florida 250 itself is set to be shown live on Fox Sports 1 beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET on Friday evening.
Daytona weather forecast
According to The Weather Channel, there is a 46% chance of afternoon showers on Thursday, followed by a partly cloudy day with only a 14% chance of rain on Saturday. There is a 42% chance of afternoon showers on Sunday.
AccuWeather is far less optimistic, calling for an 88% chance of thunderstorms on Friday, a 25% chance of showers on Saturday, and an 88% chance of thunderstorms on Sunday, even adding that "a delay or postponement of the race due to rain cannot be ruled out".
Saturday's Xfinity Series race, the United Rentals 300, is set to be shown live on the CW Network beginning at 5:00 p.m. ET; qualifying is set to precede it at 10:00 a.m. ET.
Sunday's Daytona 500 is set to be shown live on Fox beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET. The starting lineup is set by the results of Wednesday night's single-car qualifying session and Thursday night's two Duel at Daytona qualifying races.
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