NASCAR changes Bristol dirt schedule due to weather

NASCAR has altered the schedule for the Bristol Motor Speedway dirt race weekend as a result of Saturday’s inclement weather.

The NASCAR race weekend on dirt at Bristol Motor Speedway was slated to continue today following practice sessions yesterday, but that will have to wait.

As an attempt was made to get the Truck Series heat races underway to set the starting lineup for the 150-lap Pinty’s Dirt Race around the four-turn, 0.533-mile (0.858-kilometer) high-banked oval in Bristol, Tennessee, the track conditions were such that the mud was being sprayed onto the windshields of the trucks, making good vision impossible.

Not even two laps of the first heat race were completed when the race was red flagged and the decision was made to cancel the heat races and set the starting lineup via the starting lineup formula.

And it wasn’t just the Truck Series that was affected.

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The Cup Series, which hasn’t run a dirt race since September 1970, was set to see four heat races after the four Truck Series heat races to set the starting lineup for tomorrow afternoon’s 250-lap Food City Dirt Race.

Those heat races will also not happen, and the starting lineup for that race will also be set via the starting lineup formula. So there will be no more on-track activity today, and both races are scheduled to take place tomorrow with formulated starting lineups.

Kyle Busch Motorsports’ John Hunter Nemechek is set to start the Truck Series race from the pole position behind the wheel of his #51 Toyota while Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson is set to start the Cup Series race from the pole position behind the wheel of his #5 Chevrolet, although he is slated to drop to the rear as a result of an engine change, making Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin the polesitter behind the wheel of his #11 Toyota.

The Cup Series race is still set to be broadcast live on Fox beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET, but the Truck Series race has been moved after the Cup Series race. It is set to be broadcast live on Fox Sports 2 beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET.