Daytona was made for daytime racing

Maybe, just maybe, in a time far, far away, NASCAR officials and their TV partners will listen to the sage advice of every person who lives in Central Florida.

The chances of late-afternoon rain or thunderstorms in July are really high.

That means it makes really no sense to start the Coke Zero 400 at night. It’s understandable to buck the Firecracker 400 tradition of running it on the morning of the Fourth of July. But it makes no sense to try to run it Saturday or Sunday night of a July 4th weekend.

NBC was hoping to make a big splash out of its inaugural race as a broadcast partner this season. A splashy circumstance was what everybody got as the race was delayed 31⁄2 hours because of steady rain. It ended at 2:41 a.m. Monday with

Dale Earnhardt Jr. first across the finish. A year ago, thunderstorms forced race officials to push the race from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon. Then after more rain rolled in, officials called the race after drivers had completed 112 of the of the 160 scheduled laps.

In 2010, rain delayed the race nearly two hours. And in 2005, Tony Stewart took the checkered flag at 1:45 a.m. in a rain-delayed event.

Trying to shoehorn in this race, oblivious to unpredictable Florida weather patterns, makes no sense. Think about the fans and how they might be inconvenienced with these prolonged delays. Fans spend good money to come to Daytona on a race weekend. Holding the race at night — thereby increasing considerably the chance of a rain delay — messes with their time and money. People have jobs, travel schedules, things to do after the race.

To everyone’s credit, the majority of fans stayed after Sunday’s extensive delay. NASCAR fans are loyal to the brand.

It’s time for NASCAR and the TV gang to show the same consideration and move the summer race to the sunny side of the street — in daytime, not prime time. New rules: NASCAR has announced new rules packages for races at Indianapolis, Michigan, Darlington and Richmond in addition to the changes that will be implemented at Kentucky this weekend. The changes involve minor technical adjustments, all with the intent to improve racing. Fans suing: Orlando, Fla., attorney Matt Morgan has been retained to represent two fans injured by flying debris from Austin Dillon’s Chevy in the Coke Zero 400 closing crash. His clients were sitting three rows up from the point of impact when they were struck by debris that went through a catch-fence. Five fans were injured in the accident. One went to a hospital.