BRISTOL, Tenn. — The trucks made one muddy lap before NASCAR put the first heat race at Bristol on hold. Shortly thereafter, more rain poured down and the sport’s grand plans for the weekend changed.
NASCAR canceled its Saturday heat races for the Cup and Truck Series, and rescheduled its Truck race — originally scheduled for 8 p.m. Saturday — to Sunday at approximately 9 p.m. on FS2 after the Cup race.
Kevin Harvick said Friday that the experience of practicing on dirt at Bristol Motor Speedway for the first time was “as much fun in a race car” as he’d had in a long time. His tune flipped after rain hit the track Saturday and teams raced a lap.
“That’s probably as uncomfortable as I’ve ever been in a race car,” Kevin Harvick said on FS1 during the delay.
Harvick, driving the No. 17 Ford, and all other trucks in his heat pitted after NASCAR threw the caution for excessive mud on the windshields, which impaired driver visibility. Rain earlier in the day delayed the start of the those heat races by 45 minutes. NASCAR brought in late model cars and heavy “packer cars” to help dry the track, but conditions still appeared slick when trucks finally attempted to race.
The field raced just one green flag lap before the race went under the red flag. Then, heavy rain started falling again to cancel all planned heat races to set the starting order for both series’ main races. NASCAR is instead using a points formula to set the starting order for both races.
John Hunter Nemechek will start on the pole with Austin Hill in the front row for the Truck race. Kyle Larson will be on the pole with Denny Hamlin in the front row for the Cup race, but Larson will drop to the rear at the start of the race due to an earlier engine change.
The timing for Sunday’s Cup race remains unchanged for now, but rain is still in the forecast Sunday and could further impact plans. The Food City Dirt Race is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on Fox.
