DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Mother Nature hasn’t played nice with the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series so far on Thursday at Daytona Int’l Speedway.

Persistent rain showers that moved into the Daytona Beach area in the morning hours forced the cancellation of Thursday’s 55-minute Can-Am Duels practice session, which was scheduled to start at noon ET.

However, a consistently-improving forecast may bring good news for the night’s two 150-mile Can Am Duels (7 p.m., FS1, MRN, SiriusXM).

The chance of rain, according to weather.com, drops to 30 percent at 7 p.m. and diminishes further to just 15 percent by 8 p.m. local time.

Should rain force a postponement on Thursday night, NASCAR has indicated that the two qualifying races would be run on Friday during the daytime hours, prior to the season-opening NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race later that night.

Only once have the Duels ever been cancelled by weather, that instance coming 49 years ago, prior to the 1968 Daytona 500.

The next on-track activity at Daytona, weather permitting, is the opening practice session for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at 2 p.m. ET.

About the Writer

Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network.

Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.

The 23-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.

Email Jacob at: [email protected]

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