Trump takes lap of Daytona track in armored presidential limo 'the Beast'
The Daytona 500 has been postponed by rain for the first time since 2012, dampening Nascar season opener that started with a ballyhooed visit from Donald Trump.
The race was postponed after two lengthy delays totaling more than three hours. The race will now begin at 4pm on Monday and be broadcast live on Fox.
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It’s the second time in 62 years that the Great American Race will finish on a Monday.
The first delay of the day came moments after the presidential motorcade completed a ceremonial parade lap around the two-and-a-half-mile track. Trump’s armored limousine nicknamed “the Beast” exited Daytona International Speedway, and the sky opened for a brief shower that forced drivers back to pit road.
The start already had been pushed back 13 minutes to accommodate Trump’s trip. Ricky Stenhouse Jr eventually led the field to the green flag and was out front for the first 20 laps before heavier rain soaked a racing surface that takes hours to dry.
Nascar called drivers back to their cars around 6.40pm, hoping to get more laps in before more showers hit again. Some drivers showed, but the heaviest rain of the day forced a postponement.
It no doubt choked some of the excitement out of an event that had been a raucous celebration for hours, some of it prompted by Trump’s dramatic entrance. Thousands cheered as Air Force One performed a flyover and landed at Daytona International Airport a few hundred yards behind the track. Trump’s motorcade arrived a few minutes later, eliciting another loud ovation. Both entrances were broadcast on giant video boards around the superspeedway.
It was a very political engagement as well as a welcome one for a president who has survived impeachment and whose attorney general is now under severe political pressure.
Many in Trump’s conservative base are Nascar fans and Florida is a key swing state which Trump won in 2016. The president’s re-election campaign was set to fly a banner near the circuit and run a TV ad during the Fox broadcast of the race itself. About 9 million people watched last year.
Trump took pictures with supporters and at least a dozen drivers were escorted from the pre-race meeting to a private introduction.
“I got to meet the president! How cool is that?” driver Aric Almirola said.
Presidents who have attended Nascar events at the speedway include Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush and George W Bush, the last sitting president to do so in 2004.
“There’s a real sense of positive, overwhelming affirmation to hear the roar of the crowd,” Ari Fleischer, White House spokesman under the younger Bush, told the Associated Press.
“What politician doesn’t want that? Secondly, there’s what I call the reverberation effect. People watching at home, who hear the roar of the crowd for a president, that can drive them toward some sense of approval or fondness or liking for the president.”
In 2012, a Washington Post/ABC News poll found positive views of Nascar to be higher among Republicans than Americans overall. White Americans were somewhat more likely than blacks and Hispanics to have a favourable opinion, while adults aged 65 and older were slightly more likely than those under 30 to view Nascar positively.
Trump is also viewed more positive by Republicans, white Americans and older adults, compared with other Americans.
Last year, Trump awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Roger Penske, a businessman and founder of one of the world’s most successful motorsports teams.
The president plans a fundraising swing and political rallies in western states next week.
