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Bob PockrassNASCAR
NDIANAPOLIS – The NASCAR Cup Series regular-season finale Brickyard 400 has been postponed to Monday afternoon because of rain to at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
A steady light rain fell from late morning into the mid-afternoon Sunday, forcing NASCAR to a Monday race.
The Xfinity Series race, postponed from Saturday, will start at 10 a.m., with the Cup race following at approximately 2 p.m.; both races will be televised on NBCSN.
AccuWeather predicts mostly cloudy skies – with less than a 10 percent chance of rain — and a high of 71 for Monday.
Rain has plagued the Indy weekend, forcing NASCAR to scrap all activity Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The drivers will line up for both races without any practice or qualifying. NASCAR has set the field for both events by owner points. Kyle Busch is on the pole for the Brickyard 400 with Kevin Harvick joining him on the front row.
“When you get back in traffic later on in the event [when lapping cars or because of strategy], you still have to have a good handling race car,” Busch said. “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 [in feel].”
In the NASCAR Cup Series, the race serves as the final event before the playoffs start Sept. 16 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. There are two spots available in the 16-driver field.
Jimmie Johnson and Alex Bowman would get in if a driver currently locked into the playoffs wins. If a driver outside the current top-16 wins and earns an automatic bid to the playoffs, then Johnson or Bowman would miss the playoffs – Johnson has a 19-point edge on Bowman entering the race.