If you have been singing in the rain, you might need to extend your playlist some more.
Once again, the NASCAR Cup Series‘ Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 at Texas Motor Speedway will have to wait another day to crown a winner. After being postponed from Sunday to Monday, efforts to get the race in resulted in a grand total of zero laps turned by the field before it was pushed again to Tuesday.
The race completed 53 of 334 laps on Sunday as the field battled with mist and moisture before the red flag. Since then, the event has been stuck at a halt. Attempts to resume the race on Monday at 10 AM Eastern backfired as jet dryers fought to dry the track but were beaten back by returning rain. Eventually, at 3 PM, NASCAR made the call to move the 500 for the second time.
Cup Series races on Tuesday are generally rare. The 2007 3M Performance 400 at Michigan suffered a similar fate as rain pushed it from its original Sunday slot to Tuesday morning, while the 2011 AdvoCare 500 at Atlanta—also a 1.5-mile quad oval like Texas—went from Sunday to Tuesday as Tropical Storm Lee plagued the event. The 2012 Daytona 500 also finished on Tuesday morning after due to Juan Pablo Montoya’s jet dryer wreck that resulted in a lengthy red flag.
Still, skepticism about racing on Tuesday persists as weather forecasts in the Fort Worth area suggest rain through Wednesday, with Thursday as the first with a relatively low chance of precipitation. Such a delay has also raised doubts about the schedule with the upcoming weekend at Martinsville, but the ball continues to be in Mother Nature’s court.
The restart is scheduled for noon Eastern time. Clint Bowyer is the race leader.
