NASCAR: Food City 500 At Bristol Weather UPDATE

Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

UPDATE #8- 130 laps to go. Running order is 20, 42, 43, 99, 4, 5, 17, 1, 24 and 2. Earnhardt is 4 laps down. Hamlin, Stewart and Kurt Busch are all on the lead lap while Kyle Busch is in the luck dog position.

UPDATE #7- Coming up on 200 laps to go. Kyle Busch is now off of the lead lap because he was caught pitting early by the caution. Kasey Kahne leads, Kenseth is second and Gordon is in the top-10. Earnhardt is in 20th.

UPDATE #6- We are just past halfway with Kyle Busch as the leader. Despite being ran into by Timmy Hill under caution, Matt Kenseth is FAST and inside the top-10 again. Jeff Gordon restarted 30th and has moved into the top-15. Kevin Harvick is reporting a tire problem and Kyle Larson is running in the top-5 while Dale Earnhardt is running 20th.

UPDATE #5- We are moments away from going green!

UPDATE #4- Pop up showers in the Bristol area. Chance of rain currently has jumped to 55 percent and chance of rain at 7:00 has jumped to 35 percent. Area is still looking clear from 8:00 on. Drivers who had been in or around their cars have retreated yet again as it looks like this delay will continue for a while longer. FOX will shift coverage to FOX Sports 1 IF they get the race going again. If radar stays true this thing could get going between 8:00 and 9:00. If anything else blows in we might be looking at a Monday finish.

UPDATE #3- According to the Weather Channel there is a 10 percent chance of rain at the track at 7:00 PM and that drops down to no chance of rain by 8:00. Unless something unexpected happens this race should be finished tonight. Track is still being dried and there is still a light rain at the track. There is no timetable for the restart but given the weather I would be surprised if we are not back to racing by 7:30 PM at the latest.

UPDATE #2- Currently under the second delay. The track is being dried and it looks clear to the finish once we get back going. Hope for the restart is around 5:30 -6:00 pm

UPDATE- The Food City 500 is currently under a rain delay. NASCAR TV Analysts are projecting a break in the rain around 1:45 PM ET. There is currently a 50-75 percent chance of rain for the rest of the day today. There is also moisture in the forecast on Monday and Tuesday. Stay tuned for further updates.

On Sunday the NASCAR Sprint Cup crew will compete in the Food City 500 from Bristol Motor Speedway. There are numerous storylines heading into this event but the most important one to keep track of might be the weather situation.

According to an updated weather report at the time of this article from The Weather Channel, rain is expected at the track for most of the day. There is a 100 percent chance of precipitation beginning at 1:00 PM with it only dropping down to 60 percent throughout the evening hours. The outlook for Monday is also calling for a 50 percent chance of rain for most of the day.

Obviously storm patterns can change. After the initial storm around 1:00 PM its feasible that there could be a break in the rain later on in the evening. Keep in mind that Bristol does have lights and one would have to imagine that NASCAR would run well into the night if needed to get the race in. If the weather stays as it is now, it wouldn’t seem that the race is going to begin at its current 1:13 PM green flag time.

Friday during qualifying Denny Hamlin set a new track record with his second of only two qualifying laps. During Friday Team Penske kept their qualifying success going when Brad Keselowski qualified next to Hamlin on the front row. Friday wasn’t kind to everyone though because multiple practice incidents forced drivers to backup cars for the remainder of the weekend.

Coverage for the race is set to begin at 12:30 PM on FOX. Let’s hope the weather is kind to everyone and they can get the race in.

Christopher Olmstead is a Co-Editor of BeyondTheFlag.com on the FanSided Network. Follow him on Twitter @WhooYouKnowIt “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.