SHUT ’EM DOWN
Rain forces postponement of NASCAR’s biggest race
DAYTONA BEACH — The Daytona 500 has been postponed by rain for the first time since 2012, dampening NASCAR’s season opener that started with a ballyhooed visit from President Donald Trump.
The race was postponed after two lengthy delays totaling more than three hours. The race will now begin at 4 p.m. Monday and be broadcast live on Fox.
It’s the second time in 62 years that “The Great American Race” will finish on a Monday.
The first delay of the day came moments after the presidential motorcade completed a ceremonial parade lap around the 2 1/2-mile track. Trump’s armored limousine nicknamed “The Beast“exited Daytona International Speedway, and the sky opened for a brief shower that forced drivers back to pit road.
The start already had been pushed back 13 minutes to accommodate Trump’s trip. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. eventually led the field to the green flag and was out front for the first 20 laps before heavier rain soaked a racing surface that takes hours to dry.
NASCAR called drivers back to their cars around 6:40 p.m. EST, hoping to get more laps in before more showers hit again. Some drivers showed, but the heaviest rain of the day forced a postponement.
It no doubt choked some of the excitement out of an event that had been a raucous celebration for hours, some of it prompted by Trump’s dramatic entrance. Thousands cheered as Air Force One performed a flyover and landed at Daytona International Airport a few hundred yards behind the track. Trump’s motorcade arrived a few minutes later, eliciting another loud ovation. Both entrances were broadcast on giant video boards around the superspeedway. The president’s visit was widely welcomed by NASCAR fans. Trump 2020 flags flooded the infield, and some fans wore them as capes in the garage area.
EARNHARDT REFLECTS
Dale Earnhardt Jr. spent decades taking risks on the track and in the air.
He’s trying to minimize both these days.
Earnhardt said Sunday before the Daytona 500 was postponed that he’s changed his approach to flying following a harrowing crash landing near Bristol Motor Speedway last August. Earnhardt, his wife, Amy, daughter, Isla, dog and two pilots escaped the fiery jet in east Tennessee.
Earnhardt was physically unscathed, but emotionally scarred.
“It’s really tough on me getting back in the plane and it will never be the same now that you know the real realities and dangers,” he said. “It will never, ever be the same again.
“Something you will never be able to forget and never block out no matter how many flights you take. For me to be able to get back in there and go and do and travel like I want, the only way I can do it is really was to get into the details.”