Daytona 500 fans preparing for weather delay of Great American Race

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - As NASCAR fans prepare for the Daytona 500, it isn’t a question of if it will rain on Sunday – it’s more about when and how much. However, people at the International Speedway aren’t letting that dampen their spirits; they’re gearing up for the race either way.

Josh Alguire and Adam Rusnak are in town all the way from Winnipeg. They said they had no intentions of wasting the trip; if it rains, they said they’ll just wait it out.

"We’ll just sit there," said Rusnak. "I’m gonna get rained on." 

"Excited to see it happen," said Alguire.

FOX 35 heard the same thing from Lance and Coby Scarborough, who started their engines in West Virginia. That’s an 11-hour drive. 

"I’ll just get wet!" exclaimed Lance Scarborough.

Coby says he took an extra day off of work in case of inclement weather.

"Made sure to because I looked at the forecast," he said.

As for the businesses around here, FOX 35’s crews didn’t see anyone stocking up on ponchos on Friday evening, but they have seen staff at restaurants and bars near the speedway getting ready to be very busy.

If it rains, the Service Manager of Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery, Bryan Dittman, says they’re ready for people to flood in seeking shelter.

"We’re planning on being at full capacity all the way up to the top."

The owner of Tiano Italian Restaurant, Vittorio Tiano, says they’ve been prepping extra food, ensuring everything is fresh and ready to go. He says if it is raining, people can come in and cozy up next to the fire that lights up the pizza oven.

"We’ve got a fresh soup for them!" laughed Tiano. "We can feed everybody; we’re here to do that."

Not knowing what’s going to happen can obviously make things tough for Daytona Beach businesses. The owner of McK’s Tavern and Brewery, Scott Blossom, says his best advice is to simply be flexible.
"It’s kind of a toss-up," said Blossom. We could either see a large influx of people who stay in town hoping to get the races in, or they could end up leaving town if they think it’s going to push the whole way out."

Just a reminder: you cannot bring umbrellas to the Speedway.