The Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono Raceway went green at 2:57 p.m. ET Sunday after a nearly two-hour rain delay.
After 98 of a scheduled 160 laps, rain returned. NASCAR called the race at that point, and Jeff Gordon was declared the winner. Get full race results here.
Rain began falling heavily at 12:30 p.m. ET. With it typically taking two hours to dry the 2.5-mile track, the scheduled 1:12 p.m. ET green flag was delayed.
The rain lightened a little after 1 p.m. and NASCAR officials began the track-drying process around 1:15. Though the race went green, more rain is expected, leaving drivers and teams focused on getting to the half-way point, which would make the race official.
The National Weather Service predicts a 60-70 percent chance of rain the remainder of the day, and NASCAR officials appeared willing to wait out the rain in hopes to get a window to run the race. Pocono does not have lights, and sunset is at 8:12 ET.
It is NASCAR policy not to start a race that it can’t run to the scheduled completion, meaning that NASCAR likely wouldn’t start the race much later than 5 p.m. ET.
Once NASCAR starts a race, its goal is to complete as many laps as possible with an eye on the halfway mark. The race is official when it reaches the halfway point, which at Pocono would be 80 laps.
The only NASCAR national series race postponed this year was the Daytona 500.
Juan Pablo Montoya will start the Pennsylvania 400 from the pole position.
After 98 of a scheduled 160 laps, rain returned. NASCAR called the race at that point, and Jeff Gordon was declared the winner. Get full race results here.
Rain began falling heavily at 12:30 p.m. ET. With it typically taking two hours to dry the 2.5-mile track, the scheduled 1:12 p.m. ET green flag was delayed.
The rain lightened a little after 1 p.m. and NASCAR officials began the track-drying process around 1:15. Though the race went green, more rain is expected, leaving drivers and teams focused on getting to the half-way point, which would make the race official.
The National Weather Service predicts a 60-70 percent chance of rain the remainder of the day, and NASCAR officials appeared willing to wait out the rain in hopes to get a window to run the race. Pocono does not have lights, and sunset is at 8:12 ET.
It is NASCAR policy not to start a race that it can’t run to the scheduled completion, meaning that NASCAR likely wouldn’t start the race much later than 5 p.m. ET.
Once NASCAR starts a race, its goal is to complete as many laps as possible with an eye on the halfway mark. The race is official when it reaches the halfway point, which at Pocono would be 80 laps.
The only NASCAR national series race postponed this year was the Daytona 500.
Juan Pablo Montoya will start the Pennsylvania 400 from the pole position.