Rain delays start of Coke 400

The Coke Zero 400 was delayed because of rain Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway.

A light rain was falling for about 45 minutes before the scheduled 7:40 p.m. EDT command to start engines for the 160-lap event.

The National Weather Service predicts a 40 percent chance of showers for the remainder of the evening. The race track was on the edge of a band of showers going through Central Florida.

Depending on the amount of rain, it could take more than two hours to dry the 2.5-mile trioval. In 2005, NASCAR started the race under caution at 10:38 p.m. with the first green-flag lap at 11 p.m.

A Sprint Cup race has never been postponed because of rain at Daytona, with the only postponement the July 1998 event because of wildfires.

If the race is postponed, the race would be run Sunday.