Brickyard 400 rained out, will try again Monday

Sunday was another complete washout at Indy

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway regrets to announce that persistent rain has forced the postponement of all NASCAR track activity Sunday, Sept. 9 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard Powered by Florida Georgia Line for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will start at 2 p.m. (ET) Monday, with the Lilly Diabetes 250 for the NASCAR Xfinity Series taking the green flag at 10 a.m. The starting lineup for both races was set by the NASCAR Rule Book since qualifying for both races was rained out Saturday.

All tickets for both races will be honored at the gate Monday, and tickets remain on sale at IMS.com, the IMS Box Office and at the gate. Fans with reserved seats for the Xfinity Series race are asked to move to an open seat nearby if another fan holds that same reserved seat for the Cup Series race. Gates open at 9 a.m.

"Once again, we're very sorry the weather is creating this inconvenience for our loyal fans," IMS President J. Douglas Boles said. "The forecast looks much better for Monday, and everyone who comes to the Speedway will see 650 miles of exciting NASCAR action all in one day, with a handful of drivers attempting a 'daily double' of running in both races."

The Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard Powered by Florida Georgia Line (Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series) was originally scheduled for Sunday, while the Lilly Diabetes 250 originally was scheduled for Saturday. Practice and qualifying for both races was rained out.

This is the first time the Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard Powered by Florida Georgia Line has been delayed a day by rain in the race's 25-year history.

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch comments:

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Caramel Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

What are the advantages of starting on the pole here?

“It’s really good for us to be able to start on the pole. We qualified on the pole here last year I believe it was, so being able to get out front and get out in that clean air, obviously it helps you, helps your day. When you’re out there though you’re kind of in clean air. You’re racing yourself essentially and time, but also when you get back in traffic later on in the event, you still have to have a good handling race car. Without having any practice and without having any opportunity to get out there behind people or around people, it’s going to be a big difference today throughout the day."

What’s the challenge of next week and getting a good start in the playoffs?

“Going to Vegas, it’s not one of my best race tracks for some reason. I’ve won there before, but it was a long time ago. We finished second earlier this year. We struggled early, but came on late and we’d love to have the opportunity to go out there and win and just move ourselves automatically through to the next round and not have to worry about the Roval. Thankfully with our season and our success that we’ve had with the 18 team, we’ve got that point cushion and we hope to come out of Indy with an extra 15 bonus points and carry that on through."

How will it feel to win the regular season championship?

“It’s going to be awesome. It’s just another goal that you have and another opportunity to be able to go out there and score a win. Not only for myself or our team or M&Ms or whoever, but it just gives us that extra motivation to bring home a trophy. They certainly stepped up the trophy game for this year, so that’s nice and looking forward to those bonus points too."

What are your biggest challenges with the upcoming tracks in the playoffs?

“I would say the Roval is the biggest challenge just because it’s such an unknown. Nobody knows what’s going to happen there and then of course Talladega is always a crapshoot race for many of us. Love going to Kansas though. Martinsville is good and finishing out the year at Homestead and hopefully being able to go and race for a championship."

What’s the mindset of the No. 18 Camry team as they close out the regular season?

“Today it’s just Indy. It’s a big race here to come to Indy to try to win this thing and unfortunately we’ve been plagued all weekend by weather, so hopefully that will get out of here and we can go racing."