NASCAR changes Martinsville schedule due to rain
By Asher Fair
Rain and storms on Friday night at Martinsville Speedway forced NASCAR to alter this weekend’s schedule at the short track.
The NASCAR race weekend at Martinsville Speedway got underway on Friday evening with the Xfinity Series race, the Cook Out 250, after a slight delay due to rain.
But only 91 of the scheduled 250 laps of this race around the four-turn, 0.526-mile (0.847-kilometer) oval in Ridgeway, Virginia had been completed by the time the red flag flew, and as a result of more rain as well as lightning, the race was unable to be continued despite track-drying efforts.
The remainder of this race has been postponed until tomorrow afternoon.
More from NASCAR
- NASCAR Cup Series: New team set to compete in 2024
- NASCAR: Will Kevin Harvick’s major record ever be broken?
- NASCAR: Surprising name continuously linked to new seat
- NASCAR driver at risk of missing the Daytona 500?
- NASCAR set for rare appearance last seen 13 years ago
Fox Sports 1 is set to broadcast the remainder of the race live from “The Paperclip” beginning at 12:00 p.m. ET. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Brandon Jones is the race leader ahead of JR Motorsports’ Josh Berry in second place after JR Motorsports’ Noah Gragson won stage one.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Harrison Burton started from the pole position and led 53 laps but came into the pits before the end of the first stage so he did not have to make a pit stop during the stage break.
This race is the first of four races of the 2021 Dash 4 Cash program, and Gragson, Burton, Kaulig Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger and JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier are the four drivers competing for the $100,000 prize.
Burton is running in seventh place ahead of Gragson in ninth and Allgaier in 10th. Allmendinger is running in 39th, one lap off the lead lap, after an early issue.
The Cup Series race, the 500-lap Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500, is still scheduled to get underway this evening, with Fox Sports 1 set to broadcast it live beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET, so it is now scheduled to take place before the Xfinity Series event.
Next. Top 25 NASCAR drivers of all-time. dark
However, the weather forecast for this evening doesn’t exactly look too promising either, so more rain could end up prompting a Sunday doubleheader if the race isn’t able to be run.