Rain Postpones Completion of Food City 500 to Monday

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Based on forecasts prior to the race weekend, many did not think NASCAR would get any laps of the Food City 500 on Sunday, April 15.

In an attempt to get the entire race in, NASCAR moved the start of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race up from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Although there were three red flags for weather, NASCAR was able to get 204 of the 500 laps in at Bristol Motor Speedway, but that was not enough for an official race, forcing the sanctioning body to postpone the remainder of the race until Monday.

In order for the race to have been made official, the leader, in this case Kyle Larson, would have had to complete Stage 2, which ends on lap 250.

“It’s hard to get a rhythm with all the rain and stuff and then getting out of your car and getting back in,” Larson explained. “Our McDonald’s Chevy is really fast, I would just like to get some racing going, but then again, I feel like I always do better or do worse once the track gets a bunch of rubber on it. So, if we keep getting all these stops and jet dryers and stuff to take the rubber off the track, maybe it will help us out. But, feeling good about it so far.”

Live coverage of the Food City 500 resumes on FOX, the Performance Racing Network (PRN), and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90 at 1:00 p.m. Eastern on Monday, April 16.

In the 204 completed laps, several accidents have taken out race favorites including Chase Elliott, Martin Truex, Jr., and Ryan Blaney. Elliott and Truex were involved in a multi-car pile-up on lap three. Blaney was wiped out from the lead on lap 117 in a wreck that forced NASCAR to display the red flag for the clean-up.

Defending Food City 500 race winner Jimmie Johnson was scored eighth at the time of the red flag.