Rain forces Coke Zero 400 postponement

The NASCAR event might even struggle to get underway at 11am local time, with more rain predicted at Daytona Beach, Florida.

Daytona International Speedway president Joie Chitwood III said organisers were surprised by the prolonged downpour.

"We had a tough day with rain most of the day and from a radar perspective, it was popping up around us. We (didn't think) it was going to get this bad, this long," Chitwood III said.

The 160-lap race is the 18th of the 2014 Sprint Cup Series, with Jeff Gordon the standings leader.