The 2024 Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway has been postponed until Monday, February 19, at 4 p.m. ET on FOX due to inclement weather that prevented the season-opening event from occurring on Sunday, Feb. 18.
The announcement comes as the amount of rainfall within the Daytona International Speedway circuit that has increased since the start of this weekend, particularly on Saturday, continues to precipitate with no sight of relief until Monday. The weather had already impacted this year’s Daytona Speedweeks events as the 2024 ARCA Menards Series’ opener at Daytona occurred on Friday night instead of Saturday while the Cup Series’ final practice session scheduled for Saturday was canceled, both due to rain.
With the announcement, this will mark the first time since the 2012 season that the Daytona 500 event will commence on a Monday. Previously, the 2020 and 2021 Daytona 500s started on a Sunday but finished on Monday due to rain.
In addition, the Cup Series’ Daytona 500 will be part of a historic doubleheader feature on Monday that will include the Xfinity Series’ season-opening event at Daytona for the United Rentals 300 which was also postponed to Monday, both coinciding on the same day for the first time. The Xfinity opener will occur first at 11 a.m. ET on FS1 before the Daytona 500.
When the event commences on Monday, Joey Logano, a two-time Cup Series champion and the 2015 Daytona 500 champion, will lead the field to the green flag from pole position after he posted a pole-winning lap at 171.947 mph in 49.465 seconds during Wednesday night’s single-car qualifying session. Joining him on the front row will be Michael McDowell, the 2021 Daytona 500 champion who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 181.686 mph in 49.536 seconds.
The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series’ season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway for the 66th annual running of the Daytona 500 is scheduled for Monday, February 19. It will air at 4 p.m. ET on FOX.
