DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The Daytona 500, which started under threatening skies, has passed the 100-lap mark and will be official even if rains force officials to shorten the race.
Intermittent showers were expected around Daytona International Speedway during the season opener, and a rainstorm would force at least a two-hour delay because that’s how long it takes completely dry the 2½-mile superspeedway.
NASCAR officials, though, were hopeful the race would be completed Sunday.
“Hopefully Mother Nature will cooperate with us and be as supportive as everybody else is,” NASCAR president Mike Helton said.Local forecasts called for a 70 percent chance of rain and scattered showers all afternoon and throughout the evening.
Rookie Joey Logano, the youngest driver to ever start the Daytona 500, was one of the first ones out of the race.
Logano wrecked his No. 20 Toyota on lap 80. Fellow rookie Scott Speed nudged Logano from the side coming off turn four, then Greg Biffle tapped Logano from behind, sending him sliding into the inside wall.
It ended a wild week for the 18-year-old rookie. He wrecked early in the exhibition Budweiser Shootout, hit the wall during practice Wednesday, then came back to finish fourth in a 150-mile qualifying race the next day. But he had to step aside during practice Friday as teammate Kyle Busch got in and helped fine-tune his car.
On Saturday, Logano acknowledged, “It’s just not that easy.”
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