NASCAR announces new Daytona 500 race time due to threat of bad weather
The Great American Race’s start time has been moved up an hour.
NASCAR has announced that the 2026 Daytona 500 will now begin at 1:30 p.m. ET Sunday — an hour earlier than its previously scheduled 2:30 p.m. green flag — due to the threat of inclement weather in the Daytona Beach area late Sunday.
The sanctioning body, thus, is trying to take advantage of a window when they can finish the biggest race on its Cup Series schedule before the rain starts.
Local forecasts show that heavy thunderstorms could descend on Daytona International Speedway on Sunday evening — which would punctuate a week of exclusively sunny weather. AccuWeather shows that the high on Sunday will be 80 degrees with potential southward wind gusts up to 31 miles per hour.
Most importantly, that same forecast says that there’s a 55% probability of precipitation — which is expected to begin right around 6 p.m. and carry on into the night.
The Daytona 500, without any weather stoppages, lasts about 3.5 to four hours long. Moving the start time up is not unprecedented; the sanctioning body did the same thing a year ago, for instance.
The race will still be live by FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Here’s the new schedule for fans attending:
- Parking lots will open at 6 a.m.
- Gates and hospitality will open at 9 a.m., with the Fan Zone opening at 8:30 a.m.
- Fans will still see pre-race performances by Miranda Lambert and the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds after the national anthem.
This story was originally published February 14, 2026 at 12:41 PM with the headline "NASCAR announces new Daytona 500 race time due to threat of bad weather."
