Daytona Duels 2021: Rain delays start of second race in Daytona 500 qualifying

Tom Gatto

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Daytona Duels 2021: Rain delays start of second race in Daytona 500 qualifying image

The final step in qualifying for the 2021 Daytona 500 is delayed by rain.

Fast-moving showers over Daytona International Speedway pushed back the start of the second Duel at Daytona 150-mile race Thursday night from its original 8:45 p.m. ET slot. NASCAR has not given a new start time for the race, but the rain has stopped and track drying has begun. 

MORE: Duels at Daytona live updates, highlights

The rain arrived after the conclusion of the first Duel, which was run without any threat of weather.

Aric Almirola won the first Duel race, which sets the inside row for Sunday's Daytona 500. The results of the second Duel race will set the outside row and fill the final open spot in the 40-car Daytona 500 field.

UPDATE: After more than two hours of waiting, NASCAR planned to start engines for the second race at 11:10 p.m. ET.

Tom Gatto

Tom Gatto Photo

Tom Gatto joined The Sporting News as a senior editor in 2000 after 12 years at The Herald-News in Passaic, N.J., where he served in a variety of roles including sports editor, and a brief spell at APBNews.com in New York, where he worked as a syndication editor. He is a 1986 graduate of the University of South Carolina.