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NASCAR: Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta start time set

By Asher Fair

HAMPTON, GA - FEBRUARY 25: A Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series decal is seen in the garage area as it rains prior to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on February 25, 2018 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
HAMPTON, GA - FEBRUARY 25: A Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series decal is seen in the garage area as it rains prior to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on February 25, 2018 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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The start time for the second NASCAR Cup Series race of the season, the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta, has been set.

The second NASCAR Cup Series race of the 2018 season, the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia, now has its third different start time following a weather sequence of preparing for potential rain showers and then the rain showers themselves.

The race, which is scheduled for 325 laps around the four-turn, 1.54-mile D-shaped oval, was initially scheduled to begin at 2:16 pm ET this afternoon. However, yesterday morning, that start time was bumped up due to the threat of rain.

The starting time for the race and all pre-race festivities were bumped up by one hour and 10 minutes (70 minutes), thus making the race’s new start time 1:06 pm ET.

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However, once 1:06 pm ET rolled around, rain had made the track wet and thus not suitable for racing. This prompted a delay.

It was recently announced that driver introductions would begin at 2:30 pm ET and the cars would be gridded at 3:00 pm ET. It has now been announced that the race is officially set to go green at 3:30 pm ET.

Should bad weather affect the race once it gets started, the race could very well be suspended until tomorrow. However, if at least 170 of the race’s scheduled 325 laps have been completed by that point, which would take the race to the end of the second of its three stages, then it would be considered official and the finishing order would be determined by the running order at that time.

There is not supposed to be any rain in Hampton, Georgia until 8:00 pm ET tonight according to Weather.com, so it looks likely that the entire race will be run today. However, if it does need to be pushed back until tomorrow, that would not be a bad idea, as Weather.com also reports that there is not supposed to be rain after 9:00 am ET tomorrow morning in the area.

Kyle Busch and Ryan Newman are set to start the race on the front row in 1st and 2nd place, respectively, in their #18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and #31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, respectively. Here are the full qualifying results for the race.

A competition caution is set to come out on lap 30 of the race before stage 1 ends after lap 85 and stage 2 ends after lap 170. Will the race run for the entire scheduled 325-lap, 500.5-mile distance, or will it be cut short due to bad weather?

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Tune in to FOX to follow the action of the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 as it unfolds live from Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia.

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