NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas postponed due to rain
Unusual and unexpected bad weather conditions around Texas Motor Speedway on both Sunday and Monday forced the postponement of the remainder of NASCAR Cup Series race until Tuesday
Sunday’s race was halted after 52 of 325 laps were completed when a heavy mist and fog enveloped the speedway.
Conditions never improved – even though much of the rain didn’t show up on local radar – and NASCAR called the race around 8:40 p.m. ET.
After persistent rain showers throughout the day on Monday, NASCAR postponed the race further. They will try again at Noon EST. on Tuesday, but the weather forecast remains bleak.
The remainder of the race will be broadcasted live on NBC Sports Network.
When the race was halted, Clint Bowyer was the leader followed by Jimmie Johnson, Erik Jones, Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr.
Rounding out the top-10 were Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Austin Dillon, Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch.
Several lead-lap cars had pit during the caution prior to the race being red-flagged.
Kevin Harvick, who started on the pole, and led the way until Chris Buescher got in the wall off Turn 2 on Lap 5 to bring out the first caution of the race.
Most of the lead-lap cars remained on the track and the race returned to green with Harvick in the lead on Lap 9.
On Lap 21, J.J. Yeley spun and wrecked hard in Turn 2. Because of the timing, NASCAR designated this the competition caution.
All the lead-lap cars elected to pit with Harvick the first off pit road with a two-tire pit stop. On the restart on Lap 28, Harvick was followed by Alex Bowman and Denny Hamlin.
On Lap 30, Harvick tagged the wall and appeared to damage the right-side of his No. 4 Ford, which allowed Bowman to inherit the lead.
NASCAR displayed the caution flag on Lap 44 for rain and Harvick’s team took the opportunity under the caution to pit for repairs.
On Lap 52, NASCAR displayed the red flag because the moisture had picked up and the track was wet.
“It just went straight,” Harvick said of his incident. “Unfortunately, we were the first one to the damp PJ1. That’s the downside to it. Once it’s wet, it’s like ice.
“I couldn’t get out of the gas and couldn’t do anything but go straight. It had OK speed still, so work on it and figure it out.”
When the race was halted, Harvick was listed in 36th-place and one lap down.
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