NASCAR Cup Series: Dover race the first race of 2019 to be postponed

The Gander RV 400 at Dover International Speedway is the first race of the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season to be postponed due to bad weather.

Following a 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season that began with a slew of weather-related delays/suspensions/postponements, the 2019 season had not featured any of these instances through the first 10 races, at least not to a significant extent.

That streak ended yesterday when the scheduled running of the season’s 11th race, the Gander RV 400, at Dover International Speedway was washed out due to rain.

This 400-lap race around the four-turn, 1.0-mile (1.609-kilometer) high-banked Dover International Speedway oval in Dover, Delaware was originally scheduled to get underway slightly after 2:00 p.m. ET.

Following a lengthy delay, cars took to the track to complete the pace laps at roughly 4:00 p.m. ET, at which time it began to rain again. With the track not having lights and the evening approaching, NASCAR decided to postpone the race. It is now scheduled to take place this afternoon beginning at 12:00 p.m. ET.

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The exhibition race, the Clash at Daytona, at Daytona International Speedway was cut short due to rain earlier this season in February, but as far as actual points-paying races are concerned, the Gander RV 400 is the first race to feature a significant schedule change as a result of bad weather.

By this point in the 2018 season, it was almost considered great fortune if a race was not somehow altered by bad weather. A number of the season’s first several races had their start times altered in some way due to bad weather, and a few of their start times experienced significant changes.

The race at Martinsville Speedway in late March was pushed back by one day due to a blizzard, and the race at Bristol Motor Speedway in mid-April featured several delays even after the race had already begun before it ended up being suspended to the following day.

In fact, the race at Dover International Speedway in early May of last year looked as though it would almost certainly be pushed back by a day due to rain. However, even when it was delayed during the race itself, stage two of three had already been completed, so there would have been no further suspension had the weather gotten bad enough. The entire race ended up being completed anyway.

Of course, we are not yet out of the woods as far as poor fortune when it comes to weather for Cup Series races this season, at least not based on what happened later last season. The race at Michigan International Speedway in June was cut short due to rain, and the race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in September was postponed for the same reason.

Be sure not to miss the postponed Gander RV 400 this afternoon. Fox Sports 1 is set to broadcast the 36-race 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season’s 11th race live from Dover International Speedway beginning at 12:00 p.m. ET. Fortunately, the forecast for this race looks promising, so the fact that the track does not have lights should not end up becoming an issue.