Here’s how restarting the Daytona 500 works  — and no, President Trump won’t be there

A champion of this year’s Daytona 500 will be crowned Monday instead of during NASCAR’s traditional primetime slot Sunday. The ‘Great American Race’ was postponed a day, which had not happened since 2012, due to heavy rain.

The restart will work like it does under normal caution, meaning the 40 drivers will start in the order they were given the red flag yesterday. It be Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Joey Logano, Aric Almirola, Ryan Newman and Kevin Harvick leading, in that order. They are followed by Brad Keselowski, William Bryon, Jimmie Johnson, Ty Dillon and Timmy Hill, who ran in the top ten yesterday.

The order will change only if drivers decide to pit before the restart, which is unlikely since just 20 laps were completed. The fuel window for the race is around 40 laps.

Stage lengths also remain the same:

Stage 1: Lap 1 to Lap 65

Stage 2: Lap 66 to Lap 130

Stage 3: Lap 131 to Lap 200

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In the event that the finish of the Daytona 500 (or any Cup Series race) is threatened by inclement weather, the race is considered official upon the halfway mark. Monday’s weather looks promising, however, with only a 10 percent chance of precipitation and temperature in the low-70s, according to the National Weather Service on Monday morning.

There will be no pomp and circumstance for the restart, nor an appearance by President Donald Trump, today. Drivers will return to their cars, engines will be re-fired, some pace laps will be driven and the green flag will be waved.

Drivers must use the same vehicle that they drove Sunday before the race was postponed.

All tickets, hospitality passes and parking passes will be honored in their respective areas, according to NASCAR. The Daytona International Speedway parking lots open at 11 a.m. The gates and FanZone open at 1 p.m. and the hospitality areas open at 2 p.m.

Coverage of the Daytona 500 restarts on FOX at 4 p.m. with the green flag scheduled to be waived at 4:05 p.m. Racing resumes on the 21st lap.

This story was originally published February 17, 2020 at 7:42 AM with the headline "Here’s how restarting the Daytona 500 works  — and no, President Trump won’t be there."

Alexandra Andrejev

The Charlotte Observer

NASCAR and Charlotte FC beat reporter Alex Andrejev joined The Observer in January 2020 following an internship at The Washington Post. She is a two-time APSE award winner for her NASCAR beat coverage and National Motorsports Press Association award winner. She is the host of McClatchy’s podcast “Payback” about women’s soccer. Support my work with a digital subscription