It didn't take long until after the 68th annual Daytona 500 ended for the rain to start in Daytona Beach, Florida on Sunday evening.
Rain had been in the forecast for Daytona International Speedway all week, but as race day neared, it appeared that the precipitation would be limited to the evening hours.
The big question was whether, no pun intended, or not the full 500-mile distance could be run, and if not, whether the race would ultimately be shortened or suspended until Monday. Most recently, the 2020 race was started on Sunday and resumed on Monday, and the 2024 race was pushed back entirely. The race hadn't been shortened since 2009.
Just one day before the "Great American Race", NASCAR opted to move the start time up from 2:30 p.m. ET to 1:30 p.m. ET. The green flag time moved up from 3:13 p.m. ET to 2:13 p.m. ET as a result.
The move paid off.
For years, NASCAR fans have been clamoring for earlier start times to races; the Daytona 500 itself used to start shortly after noon.
NASCAR has been reluctant to make such changes on the whole, even with some of the weather-related flexibility they would provide, but their willingness to adapt to an ever-changing forecast on what has, at least over the past seven years, been one of the most unpredictable weather days on the Cup Series schedule paid off.
NASCAR was able to fit in the entire 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked oval on Sunday afternoon, and because of the decision to move up the start time, the race ended as early as it's ended in about a decade, even with several multi-car pileups and caution flag periods.
Fortunately, there were no overtime periods.
While it won't necessarily go down as a monumental change in the history of the sport, such as the change to the playoff format after 12 years of the Championship 4 knockout setup, it might well have been the most important change NASCAR made to the Cup Series ahead of the 2026 season.
Full Daytona 500 results can be found here.