NASCAR has made a major change to its Daytona 500 schedule, with the race set to be moved forward.
The 68th edition of the Great American race was scheduled to start at 2:30pm ET, with a green flag time of 3:13pm ET.
However, NASCAR has now moved those timings forward by one hour, with the event set to start at 1:30pm ET, and the green flag set to drop at 2:13pm ET.
The move comes as weather forecasts predict rain to hit Florida on Sunday, with Daytona International Speedway having between a 20-66% chance of rain from 2pm through until 8pm.
NASCAR RACE TODAY: O'Reilly Series at Daytona start times, schedule, how to watch live on TV and stream
Daytona 500 latest weather forecast
In that sense, the current weather forecast for the 2026 Daytona 500 looks rather bleak, although the action should start under bright skies.
Between 12 and 1pm local time are expected to be the sunniest parts of the day, with just a 3-8% chance of rainfall.
However, by 2pm, the chance of rainfall more than doubles to 19%, and more than doubles again to 41% by 3pm.
Concerningly, the rest of the day has a steady chance of rainfall, with the lowest chance being 33% at 5pm and the highest up to 68% at 10pm.
If bad weather disrupts the race, it would be the third consecutive year it has done so, with a lengthy four-hour rain delay having ensued in 2025 before the event eventually finished under the lights on Sunday night.
In 2024, NASCAR was even forced to hold the race on Monday due to a washout at Daytona International Speedway, and nobody wants to see that again.
But, if it's necessary, NASCAR will take action, as highlighted by their flexibility in Winston-Salem earlier this month when snow caused the Clash to be postponed three times.
NASCAR fans, whatever the opposite of a rain dance is, we'd better start doing it!
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