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Rain delay hits Daytona 500
The season-opening Daytona 500 is under a rain delay after nine laps.
William Byron is the leader under the red flag. Byron, the defending Daytona 500 winner, took the lead on lap 8. He leads Austin Cindric, Ty Dillon, polesitter Chase Briscoe and Joey Logano.
The field had formed three-wide before the caution flag flew for rain. NASCAR immediately brought the field down pit road and displayed the red flag. The expectation is that rain and heavy wind will move through the area over the next few hours.
Chase Briscoe and Austin Cindric led the field to the green flag shortly after 2pm ET. Briscoe led the first eight laps before Ty Dillon, in his new Kaulig Racing ride, led the next three laps, and then Byron took the top spot.
Helio Castroneves is 35th under the red flag. Carson Hocevar, who lost the draft after the green flag, is the last driver on the leaderboard.
The caution for rain flew as the field was entering the tri-oval to start lap 10.
Sunday’s race is scheduled for 200 laps around Daytona International Speedway. The race will be official at the halfway point – lap 100.
Kelly Crandall
Kelly has been on the NASCAR beat full-time since 2013, and joined RACER as chief NASCAR writer in 2017. Her work has also appeared in NASCAR.com, the NASCAR Illustrated magazine, and NBC Sports. A corporate communications graduate from Central Penn College, Crandall is a two-time George Cunningham Writer of the Year recipient from the National Motorsports Press Association.
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