In less than 24 hours, the 2024 NASCAR season will finally be in full swing.
After a Friday night unaffected by weather, nearly all on-track activity was washed out on Saturday and Sunday, with the exception being qualifying for the NASCAR Xfinity Series race, which saw rookie Jesse Love take the pole on Saturday morning.
After NASCAR ran two races Friday night – running both the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and ARCA Menards Series back to back – they will double up again on Monday. NASCAR announced the postponement of the Xfinity Series race on Saturday evening and made an early call on the Daytona 500 Sunday morning, announcing around 9 AM ET that the 66th Great American Race would be postponed to Monday, only the third time – along with 2012 and 2020 – that the race won’t be run on a Sunday.
The 2012 edition of the race was one of the most chaotic in its history, with Matt Kenseth taking home his second Daytona 500 in an event more infamous for Juan Pablo Montoya obliterating a jet dryer in turn three. The race faced numerous delays before finally concluding early on Tuesday morning. The 2020 edition also featured an infamous wreck, with Ryan Newman flipping violently through the air as the field flew under the checkered flag. Newman, known for bad luck and numerous flips at superspeedways, ultimately walked away largely unharmed while bringing together a NASCAR community still reeling in shock from the scary crash that had dominated the news cycle a few days prior. Denny Hamlin won the 2020 Daytona 500, beating Newman and holding off Ryan Blaney by inches to take his third Great American Race and second consecutive after his win in 2019.