NASCAR: 2018 Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 start time changed

Once again, the start time for a NASCAR Cup Series race has been altered in 2018. The start time for the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 has been moved up.

Add the 2018 Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway to the long list of NASCAR Cup Series races that have had their start times altered in one way or another this year as a result of inclement weather or the threat of inclement weather.

The 301-lap race around the four-turn, 1.058-mile (1.703-kilometer) New Hampshire Motor Speedway oval in Loudon, New Hampshire was scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. ET later today, and it was scheduled to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network at that time.

However, the start time for the race itself and for all pre-race festivities has been moved up by one hour due to the threat of rain, meaning the race is scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m. ET now. NBC Sports Network is still scheduled to broadcast the race live from New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

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There is a 90% chance of thunderstorms today in Loudon, New Hampshire, according to Weather.com. These thunderstorms are supposed to start out as rain showers at roughly 6:00 a.m. ET before turning into thunderstorms at roughly 11:00 a.m. ET, and they are scheduled to last throughout Sunday and into Monday and perhaps even later into the week.

Several races have had their start times changed so far this season, most recently the race at Chicagoland Speedway three weeks ago, but only three have actually been shortened or either postponed or suspended until another day. Given the current weather forecast, this race could end up being the fourth race to either be shortened, suspended or postponed this year.

The other three races that were either shortened, postponed or suspended earlier this year were the races at Martinsville Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway and Michigan International Speedway.

The race at Martinsville was postponed from Sunday, March 25 to Monday, March 26 due to snow, and the race at Bristol was suspended due to rain before stage two ended up Sunday, April 15. It was resumed and completed on Monday, April 16. The race at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday, June 10 was ended after just 133 of its 200 scheduled laps had been completed.

NASCAR may be fortunate to even get the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 completed by Monday, but things can certainly change. When the race does get underway, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kurt Busch is set to lead the field to the green flag in his #41 Ford alongside Furniture Row Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. in his #78 Toyota.

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Tune in to NBC Sports Network at 1:00 p.m. ET later today for the live broadcast of the 2018 Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Even if the race ends up not taking place at this time, tune in anyway to find out what NASCAR‘s new plans for it will be.

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