Weekend rain at Bristol Motor Speedway cancelled the qualifying heat races Saturday night (3/27) and has postponed the NASCAR Cup Series race to Monday (3/29).
Rain on Saturday prevented the qualifying heat races for both the NASCAR Cup Series and Camping World Truck Series. That also postponed the Truck Series, rescheduling it to Sunday (3/28) following the Cup Series race.
However, persistent rain overnight Saturday night and into the day Sunday created condition on the dirt track that has forced NASCAR to posh both races back to Monday. The Camping World Truck race will take place starting at 11 a.m. central time (12 noon eastern time). The NASCAR Cup Series is scheduled for a 3 p.m. central time (4 p.m. eastern time) start.
Conditions during Friday’s practice have also prompted NASCAR to make some adjustments to the format in the Food City Dirt Race. Friday’s practice produced a high level of dust at the track. There was also extreme tire wear. The NASCAR Cup Series race will now have new stage lengths. Stage one will end at lap 100 (changed from lap 75) and stage two will conclude at lap 200 (changed from lap 150). The third and final stage will still end at lap 250.
NASCAR has also announced there will be competition cautions at lap 50 and again at lap 150. These built-in breaks every 50 laps will allow teams to put on new tires and let track officials the chance to put water on the track to reduce dust. The hope is that these adjustments will allow drivers to race more aggressively and produce a better show for the fans.
My DVR will be set to capture the MONDAY (3/29) NASCAR Cup Series Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway starting at 3 p.m. central (4 p.m. eastern).
By: Buck Stevens
