DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. _ Bad weather continued to plague Daytona International Speedway this weekend, postponing Saturday's Coke Zero Sugar 400 until 1 p.m. Sunday.
Summer storms have played a factor during one of NASCAR's biggest weekends, pushing start times and causing mid-race delays. But an event dating to 1959 has been moved to Sunday due to weather just once _ in 2014.
The Coke Zero Sugar 400's switch from the July 4th holiday weekend to late August 2020 could mitigate some weather concerns.
For now, race organizers just want to finish the race Sunday. The forecast is more promising, but weather.com predicts a 40 to 50 % chance of scattered thunderstorms from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.
Weather delays already cancelled Friday's qualifying for the race and delayed the Xfinity Series race for two hours, 35 minutes. But the Firecracker 250 eventually did start and finish.
The cars never reached the track for the Coke Zero Sugar 400, despite efforts to get the 2.5-mile super-speedway ready for the race.
Fans who braved the elements were treated to a lineup they did not come to see at the sport's most famous venue.
The vehicles on the track were not driven by Kyle Busch or Jimmie Johnson and barely reached double-digit speeds.
A total of 17 Toyota Air Titans, 10 jet driers, two Buffalo snow blowers and two Elgin street sweepers were deployed at around 6:15 p.m. to prepare the track for the race's scheduled 7:30 p.m. start.
The army of Titans travel in a formation to serve as an air-powered squeegee. The driers and blowers look to remove the remaining moisture. The sweeper then vacuums up any debris.
But another deluge ended the painstaking process within 30 minutes and eliminated any hope the race would begin on time. The race officially was postponed at 8:15 p.m.
