Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images
Daytona 500 getting predictable: The Great American Race is long by nature. After all it is 500 miles long. Add bad weather and it gets longer. Add predictable crashes (multiple) in the final 10 laps and the race gets even longer. Even the winner is getting predictable (well I'm sort of joking). But William Bryan became a back-to-back winner by defending his 2024 victory with another Daytona 500 win.
The Great American Race was set to begin at 2:30. But Friday race officials announced Sunday's race would begin at 1:30 because bad weather was coming. And it did. There were several delays but the big one was 4 hours. It was the 6th time in the last 14 years the Daytona 500 has encountered weather delays. That's tough on a TV audience to hang through. And it makes for a long day if you are at the track in person. We will be interested to see the ratings on FOX for the race. I know I bailed on the race but checked in periodically. I tuned in as late as 8:00 and was amazed the race was still in progress. Maybe FOX will benefit from the prime time finish.
DAYTONA 500 GETTING PREDICTABLE AND LONG
Daytona Getting Predictable: To make a long day even longer we have to factor in the wrecks you know are coming at the end. Drivers lose their minds in the last 10 laps at Daytona. That is as predictable as the sun rising in the east. Sure enough there was a big wreck with 8 laps to go. After a restart, when many fans just wanted this thing to end, Ryan Preece popped a wheely and got air born (he was ok!) and there was another delay.
Daytona Getting Predictable: Finally, there was a wreck behind the leaders on the last lap (we saw that one coming) and officials didn't even throw a yellow caution flag. It was time to end this day and let the leaders finish the race and let everybody go home.
Tune in to Craig Shemon and Company from 2-6pm each weekday on ESPN Southwest Florida.
