For the first time since 2012, the Daytona 500 will start later than expected due to a postponement. Sunday’s running of the Great American Race was halted due to inclement weather, and the remaining 180 laps will take place on Monday afternoon. Will President Donald Trump be on hand to serve as the grand marshal for the second consecutive day?
According to the Charlotte Observer, the president will not be present, nor will he be yelling “drivers, start your engines” prior to the race. The goal is to get the action resumed, so there won’t be any festivities, musical performances, or speeches. The drivers will simply return to their cars, engines will be re-fired, and then the green flag will be waved after a few pace laps.
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Whether or not Trump would be present for the race’s restart was important for some of the NASCAR fans. Having him serve as the grand marshal resulted in varying reactions, some of which were less than positive.
“God was so disgusted with Trump that he rained out the Daytona 500,” one individual wrote on Twitter. There were many on social media that actually blamed the president for the Daytona 500 being postponed until Monday. Although this was not a universal opinion.
“First Daytona 500 I ever watched,” one Twitter user wrote in response to the president being named grand marshal. “It was because of Trumps visit and the opener to the race. Now I’m a Nascar fan.”
With Trump giving a pre-race speech, telling the drivers to start the engines, and then leading a pace lap in his armored limousine, it was expected that there would be several disagreements on social media. This was proven to be true as fans and critics alike argued with each other about this Sunday appearance.
Now that the race has been postponed to Monday, those discussions will be fewer in number. The Daytona 500 will be starting without any festivities or speeches due to the action taking center stage, and Trump will not be expected to be in attendance. The racing will take center stage.
The 40 drivers will get back onto the track shortly after 4 p.m. ET for laps 21-200. The command to start the engines will be given at 4:05 p.m. The green flag that officially signals the start of the race is scheduled to wave at 4:12 p.m.
(Photo Credit: SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
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