Rain Delays Cup Playoff Race at Texas UPDATES

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Rain delays the Cup Playoff, Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 at Texas Motor Speedway from Sunday to Monday, October 26th at 10 am ET.
FORT WORTH, TEXAS – OCTOBER 25: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Ally designed by Noah Sweet Chevrolet, and Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Cummins Ford, exit their cars after a rain delay during the NASCAR Cup Series Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on October 25, 2020, in Fort Worth, Texas. Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

EDITOR’s NOTE: Due to the delay of the NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway, our Fan4Racing Radio show is rescheduled to Tuesday, October 27th at 8:30 pm ET.

Rain delays the Cup Playoff, Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 at Texas Motor Speedway from Sunday to Monday, October 26th at 10 am ET.

Misting rain interrupted Sunday’s Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 at Texas Motor Speedway and ultimately forced a postponement of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race until 10 am ET Monday (NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

NASCAR called a caution on lap 42 because of wet track conditions. In the second race of the Round of 8, the Cup cars ran ten laps under caution before the sanctioning body brought the field to pit road and red-flagged the event.

Roughly half the field opted to pit under the caution, leaving Clint Bowyer and seven-time Texas winner Jimmie Johnson in the top two positions awaiting the resumption.

Early Issues for Top Playoff Drivers

The two drivers who have dominated the series this season both had issues in the early going. Kevin Harvick’s No. 4 Ford was a victim of the slick track on lap 29, scraping the wall in the tri-oval when his car refused to turn.

Harvick made an unscheduled pit stop on lap 32 and was 36th, one lap down when the race was halted. 

Denny Hamlin slipped up the track on a lap 28 restart and fell back to 28th in the running order, but the driver of the No. 11 Toyota avoided contact with the wall and worked his way back to 15th by lap 42.

Monday Update

Persistent rain has again delayed the running of the NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Texas Motor Speedway.

The 501-miler is the second of the three races in the Round of 8 playoff bracket that will whittle the field to the four drivers who will compete for the Cup Series championship on Nov. 8th at Phoenix Raceway.

Update

NASCAR’s fleet of Air Titans and additional dryers were on the track multiple times throughout Monday to combat the wet weather, but bouts of rain have severely hampered the process.

As of 4:30 pm ET, there is still no estimate as to when the track will be ready to race.

Update

NASCAR officials have postponed the remainder of the Cup Series playoff race from Texas Motor Speedway to a Tuesday restart at 12 noon ET on NBCSN because of persistent rain.

Tuesday Update

Track-drying progress had been made under chilly, damp conditions Tuesday at the 1.5-mile Fort Worth track, but morning rain scratched the proposed noon ET restart time. Mist and light rain intensified near 2 p.m. ET, stalling efforts to dry the speedway. Hope was renewed in the 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. ET hours, but the return of light rain eventually halted a tentative 8:30 p.m. ET restart and forced race officials to postpone the race’s conclusion again.

A tighter turnaround is anticipated for teams, broadcast crews and NASCAR personnel to set up for Sunday’s event in Martinsville, Virginia. Officials said that if the conclusion of the Texas event is completed Wednesday that

“NASCAR plans to leave the advertised Martinsville schedule in place. Any additional postponements will require an adjustment to the Martinsville schedule, and we will notify you of those changes as they happen.”

NASCAR officials have postponed the completion of the Cup Series playoff race from Texas Motor Speedway for a third consecutive day because of continuing rain Tuesday.

The next scheduled time is for Wednesday, Oct 28th at 3 pm ET on NBCSN.

This post will be updated as needed.