The Coke Zero Sugar 400‘s final running on 4th of July weekend has literally had rain on its parade. Due to weather, the originally-Saturday evening race has been moved to Sunday afternoon at 1 PM Eastern.
Although NASCAR attempted to dry the track, rain resumed approximately two hours before the race, halting the process. By 8:15 Eastern, officials decided to move it to Sunday. Qualifying on Friday was called off due to rain, so points leader Joey Logano will start on the pole.
Friday’s Xfinity Series qualifying and race were still held (won by Ross Chastain), though the infield grass remained very wet, leading to drivers sliding through mud and kicking grass into the air during wrecks:
Daytona International Speedway has typically struggled with the weather, especially in July. Rain forced final practice for the 2018 Coke Zero Sugar 400 to be cancelled, while the 2014 and 2015 editions saw postponements; the 2014 400 was also called after 112 of 160 laps for rain. In 2020, the 400 will be moved to late August as the final race of the regular season, with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway‘s Brickyard 400 taking its 4 July date.
The postponement marks the second straight Monster Energy Cup Series race plagued by weather issues. The previous Sunday’s Camping World 400 at Chicagoland Speedway only ran 12 laps before thunderstorms struck the circuit and sparked a wait of over three hours.
