Bob Pockrass

FOX NASCAR Insider

BROOKLYN, Mich. — For the second consecutive day, NASCAR Cup Series racing at Michigan International Speedway was suspended due to rain. Sunday’s race was scheduled to resume at 11 a.m. ET on Monday.

Sunday’s race began after a 2 hour 19 minute rain delay, with drivers completing 51 of the 200 laps – had they completed 100 laps it would have been an official race – before the rain started again.

The 2-mile oval track in rural Michigan, about 50 miles west of Detroit, is a massive facility with no lights. NASCAR officials saw more rain in the forecast, and with the race scheduled to end at 8:20 p.m. ET due to darkness, they felt they didn’t have enough time to dry the track and hold an official race.

The FOX weather forecast for the region calls for temperatures around 15 degrees and a 2 percent chance of rain on Monday. Chase Elliott will be the leader when racing resumes. Ryan Blaney won the opening stage.

It was the second year in a row that the Cup’s annual stop in Michigan was affected by rain. Last year’s race was stopped after 74 laps because of rain and did not finish until Monday.

The race is the second Cup event this season to be postponed due to rain. The season-opening Daytona 500 was moved to Monday. The preseason clash was held a day earlier than originally planned after a grim forecast for the Los Angeles area called for at least a few days of heavy rain and possible flooding.

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has covered motorsports for decades, including over 30 Daytona 500s, and has worked for ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene Magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @Subscribe.

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