If the Daytona 500 is run today it will be as a night race.

NASCAR President Mike Helton announced this morning that the race will start at 7 p.m. ET, if weather allows.

Heavy rains at the Daytona International Speedway yesterday forced the race's first cancellation in its 54-year history.

AccuWeather.com's meteorologists forecast a chance of showers and thunderstorms continuing into the evening today.

And any time the track gets rained on it takes about two hours to dry.

"Certainly you'd like to try to make some lemonade out of lemons," Helton said. "Ideally, the race would have started yesterday as scheduled, and it would have been sunny and we would have been celebrating the Daytona 500 champion today. Under the circumstances, we're just trying to make the best decisions collectively."

If the race is not completed Monday night, Helton said NASCAR would attempt to complete the race Tuesday, when the forecast is much better with little chance of rain.

Contributing: Jeff Olson from Daytona Beach, Fla.