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SPARTA, Ky. — A series of heavy rain showers forced NASCAR to postpone the Quaker State 400 Sprint Cup Series race at Kentucky Speedway on Saturday night.
The race was rescheduled for Sunday at noon. TNT will carry the broadcast.
Forecasters called for scattered thunderstorms throughout the afternoon and evening Saturday, and they were correct. The first big rain-maker swept through at 3 p.m. and another hit the track shortly after 5, leaving the track surface completely soaked.
DALE JR.: Wins pole for Quaker State 400
Jet dryers were out and making progress before another cell hit around 7:15. NASCAR ordered the dryers turned off. This went on a couple of times until NASCAR made the call just after 9.
It takes about two hours to dry the 1.5-mile layout.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. will start from the pole Sunday. Unfortunately, Sunday's forecast is expected to closely resemble the one that caused problems Friday and Saturday at Kentucky. NASCAR could have to dodge storms all afternoon.
Friday night's Nationwide Series race at Kentucky was also affected by weather; Brad Keselowski was declared the winner after rain hit 30 laps from the finish and shortened the event.
NASCAR will have an additional challenge: Weepers, which are cracks in the track where water bubbles up and streams down the surface. Kentucky's asphalt is worn out and has more weepers than other tracks.
Also, NASCAR did not bring its new Air Titan track drying system to Kentucky. It is requiring tracks to pay for use of the Air Titan, and Speedway Motorsports Inc. — which owns Kentucky Speedway — balked at the high price.
The Air Titan helped shorten a delay at Talladega Superspeedway by about 45 minutes on May 5.
The last time NASCAR had to postpone a Cup race was the 2012 season-opening Daytona 500. That event was run the following Monday night.
Here's the starting lineup for the Quaker State 400:
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Carl Edwards
- Jimmie Johnson
- Kyle Busch
- Marcos Ambrose
- Denny Hamlin
- Ryan Newman
- Brad Keselowski
- Brian Vickers
- Juan Pablo Montoya
- Joey Logano
- Jeff Gordon
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Jeff Burton
- Clint Bowyer
- Matt Kenseth
- AJ Allmendinger
- Aric Almirola
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Greg Biffle
- Kasey Kahne
- Kevin Harvick
- Jamie McMurray
- Paul Menard
- Tony Stewart
- Austin Dillon
- Kurt Busch
- David Stremme
- Danica Patrick
- Landon Cassill
- Casey Mears
- Dave Blaney
- Michael McDowell
- David Gilliland
- JJ Yeley
- David Reutimann
- Josh Wise
- David Ragan
- Mike Bliss
- Travis Kvapil
- Joe Nemechek
- Scott Riggs
- Ken Schrader
Contributing: Associated Press
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