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Rain likely to put brakes on Coke Zero 500 start time

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Blinding rain hit all parts of central Florida Saturday and it nearly put a damper on the Coke Zero 400 Race at Daytona International Speedway.

Speedway officials took to Twitter and asked all the fans to clear the grandstands due to lightning and thunder, but later said they are confident the race will start at 7:30 p.m. as planned.

A strong chance of more heavy rain throughout the evening is expected to delay the start time, however, officials sent out a tweet at 5 p.m. saying that all operations were back to normal.

Fans said they were hopeful the rain wouldn’t impact the race.

“This rain’s not going to stop us. There’s going to be a little bit of a delay and then we’re going to get going. It’ll be great,” said one spectator, who wasn’t named.

The Coke Zero 400 Race attracts thousands of visitors to Daytona Beach annually.