Larson holds lead when rain intervenes
BRISTOL, Tenn. — Kyle Larson needed to wait beyond Sunday to try to capture his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season after the race at Bristol Motor Speedway was postponed until today because of heavy rain with Larson out in front. Racing was halted three times Sunday on the short track due to wet weather.
Action was scheduled to resume today at 1 p.m.
Larson led 74 laps when the race was halted on Lap 204, just 46 laps from it becoming official. NASCAR hoped to complete all remaining 296 laps, although the forecast calls for more rain and possibly snow.
Larson seemed to have found his groove on the track before the third and final red flag came out. NASCAR waited about an hour before officially postponing the race with a forecast of steady rain for the remainder of Sunday night.
“It’s hard to get a rhythm with all the rain and stuff and then getting out of your car and getting back in,” Larson said.
Larson liked the speed of his car but said the track was slick.
“There is only a little line there on the bottom that has got some grip,” said Larson, who normally likes to run on the high side of the Bristol track. “If you get out of it, it’s slick. If you get below it, it’s slick. So it’s been fun, but it’s kind of hard to guess where you need to position your car there for a little while.”
Some drivers won’t have to worry about coming back today.
Ryan Blaney was dominant early in the No. 12 Ford, leading 99 laps of the first 119 laps before getting caught up in wreck that left his car in shambles.
It happened on Turn 3 when Chris Buescher and Trevor Bayne, who were fighting to stay on the lead lap, got tangled up in front of Blaney, leaving him nowhere to maneuver.
His car was taken behind the wall, ending his day.
“By the time I got away from the car right in front of me they were already turned right up the race track and I was already going to the top of the track,” Blaney said. “I kind of saw them spinning low and I thought that top was going to be OK and then they slid back up and got us. That stinks. I thought we had a good car and nothing to show for it.”
Michael McDowell, Chris Buescher, Harrison Rhodes and Ross Chastain also are out of the race.
On Saturday at Bristol, Ryan Preece’s investment in himself left him in debt but paid off big time as the full-time NASCAR Modified Tour driver captured the Xfinity Series race and took home the Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus prize.
“Would I advise somebody to do what I did? Probably not,” Preece said of incurring debt. “But I wanted a chance. And it worked out. I guess if you want it bad enough it will all work out.”
Preece, driving the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota, added, “It’s gratifying that when I leave here and I will be debt-free.”
He became the seventh different winner this year in the Xfinity Series in as many races, beating Justin Allgaier and Daniel Hemric to the finish line. Elliott Sadler finished fourth and Spencer Gallagher was fifth.
Cup Series regulars were not eligible to compete because of restrictions placed on the Dash 4 Cash races.
The 27-year-old Preece was racing in only his third Xfinity Series event of the year. It didn’t bother the other Xfinity Series regulars that a non-regular like Preece won the money. In fact, they applauded his win.
“If you qualify for the show, you meet the criteria and you beat out 39 other dudes whose job it is to do this full time at a place like Bristol, well, congratulations you deserve it,” Gallagher said. “And that’s it.”
Added Hemric: “He drove his tail off and put himself in position and stepped up when he had to.”
Preece was strong all day, but it all came down to the final 10 laps.
Brandon Jones bemoaned the final caution that came out late.
He gambled by taking on only two tires. Preece, who took four tires, was able to take him on the restart and he pulled away for an easy victory.
Preece was competing with three other qualifying drivers — pole-sitter Cole Custer, Christopher Bell and Hemric — for the $100,000 prize.