Cars are seen parked on pit road due to weather during the NASCAR XFINITY Series Coca-Cola Firecracker 250 at Daytona International Speedway on July 1, 2017. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
Daytona International Speedway is a massive complex with 480 acres of a race track, sprawling lake-bearing infield and capacity for more than 100,000 roaring fans. The front stretch alone extends nearly a mile long in this coastal Florida town with a notoriously fickle weather pattern. That’s one of many difficulties meteorologists face in forecasting weather for races such as the site’s signature Daytona 500.
To address difficulties with hyper-local projections, NASCAR is entering into a unique partnership with The Weather Company — the IBM-owned parent company of The Weather Channel.