As usual, weather iffy as NASCAR heads to Daytona

It wouldn't be a race weekend at Daytona International Speedway without everyone in the NASCAR industry briefly turning into a meteorologist.

Summer in Florida always brings afternoon thunderstorms, and the same can be said this weekend, according to AccuWeather. 

Qualifying for both the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series and the NASCAR Cup Series is scheduled for Friday, as is the O'Reilly Series race. The Cup race is scheduled for Saturday night. 

Forecast doesn't look great, but that's par for the course

Friday's forecast calls for an 88 percent chance of precipitation and thunderstorms. If qualifying is rained out, the starting lineups for both races would be set by the NASCAR rulebook. 

Saturday's forecast is more favorable, especially if Friday's race is postponed. An afternoon thunderstorm is in the forecast, though there's only a 55 percent chance of precipitation. 

The same is true for Sunday and Monday, with a 55 percent chance of precipitation and an afternoon thunderstorm being possible. 

As often is the case with the summer Daytona race, it may simply be a waiting game for NASCAR, and both Friday and Saturday night could be quite long for drivers, teams and fans. 

Friday's race is set for a 7:30 p.m. ET green flag on the CW, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, while Saturday's race is also scheduled to start shortly after 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.