UPDATE: 9:30 p.m. ET — Mother Nature has won tonight at Kentucky Speedway, as rain has forced NASCAR to postpone the Quaker State 400 to Sunday at Noon ET. For fans planning on returning to the track tomorrow, NASCAR.com’s David Caraviello reports that all tickets and parking passes from today will be honored; parking lots will open at 8 a.m. ET and track gates will open at 10 a.m. ET.
Another batch of rain hit the 1.5-mile oval around 8:30 p.m. ET, once again erasing the progress of track-drying teams. When NASCAR asked for an estimate on how long the track-drying process would take, they were told of a possible green flag at 11:30 p.m. ET if the rain would finally stop.
Earlier showers also delayed driver introductions, which were re-set for 7:15 p.m. ET after the original start time for the race (7:45 p.m. ET) had been effectively scratched. It usually takes between 90 minutes and two hours to dry the Kentucky oval.
Last night’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race was affected by rain, which cut the event short at Lap 170 and gave the win to Brad Keselowski. It should also be noted that Kentucky Speedway does not have NASCAR’s new “Air Titan” track-drying system; according to USA Today’s Jeff Gluck, NASCAR requires tracks to pay for its use and Kentucky opted not to do so.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Carl Edwards will be on the front row for tomorrow’s race. Unfortunately, as it was tonight, a 50 percent chance of rain is in the forecast.
