Rain forces postponement of Pinty’s Truck Race on Dirt at Bristol

With the exception of one muddy lap, rain forced the cancellation or postponement of all NASCAR track activity on Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Sunday’s Food City Dirt Race for the NASCAR Cup Series will run as scheduled on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET, broadcast on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. The Pinty’s Truck Race on Dirt, scheduled for Saturday night, has been postponed until Sunday night at 9 p.m. ET on FS2, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

During a break in the rain on Saturday, NASCAR started the first qualifying race for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, but with mud covering the grilles and windshields of the trucks, NASCAR halted the proceedings after one lap and brought the trucks to pit road.

Shortly thereafter, the rain returned, and NASCAR was forced to cancel the qualifying races for the Truck Series and Cup Series. The starting fields for both races have been set by owner points.

Whose brilliant idea was this anyway?

John Hunter Nemechek will start on the pole for the Truck race, with Kyle Larson is listed in the first position on the grid for the Cup race. Larson, however, will have to drop to the rear of the field for the start because of an engine change in his No. 5 Chevrolet.

Trevor Collins, Jessica Friesen and Ryan Newman are non-qualifiers for the Truck race. JR Hefner already had dropped out because of extensive damage to his No. 3 truck sustained during practice.

Based on observation of the track and tire wear in Friday’s practices, NASCAR made changes to the format of the Sunday’s Cup race. Stage breaks will come after Laps 100 and 200 (instead of 75 and 150 as originally announced) and competition cautions have been added after Laps 50 and 150. Each car also receives an additional set of tires.

Ever try to walk on a muddy clay track?

Press Release

The Food City Dirt Race NASCAR Cup Series race remains scheduled for Sunday, March 28 at 3:30 p.m. Tonight’s Pinty’s Truck Race on Dirt has been postponed until Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on FS2. NASCAR and BMS officials announced that the Bush’s Beans Qualifying heat races for both the NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series have been cancelled today due to weather.

The Pinty’s Truck Race on Dirt ticket holders can enter the Speedway 30 minutes after completion of the NASCAR Cup Series race.

Spectator gates will open tomorrow at 1 p.m. as scheduled for those who have tickets to the Food City Dirt Race.

The Speedway Motorsports Weather Guarantee will be in effect for Pinty’s Truck Race on Dirt ticket holders who are not able to attend the rescheduled event. For more information the Weather Guarantee, please click here.

For updates and information, please visit www.bristolmotorspeedway.com and BMS social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) or text your question to 69050 and type in BRISTOL and then your question.