Weather forces Dover race to a Monday green flag
Auto racing fans will have to wait an extra day to see the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover International Speedway.
Track and series officials announced that the Gander RV 400, scheduled to go green shortly after 2 p.m. Sunday, has been postponed until Monday because of persistent rain. The race is now scheduled to begin at noon ET and will be televised on Fox Sports 1.
Rain began falling early Sunday in Dover, Delaware, and continued into the afternoon before officials were finally forced to reschedule the 11th race of the season.
Dover International Speedway does not have lights, so racing at night was not an option. Dover hasn’t held a Monday race since 2007.
Monday’s forecast looks considerably better. The Weather Channel is calling for partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the high 60s.
Thirty-seven cars are entered in the race, and all went through inspection Sunday morning. Four cars — the No. 88 Chevrolet of Alex Bowman, the No. 19 Toyota of Martin Truex Jr., the No. 47 Chevrolet of Ryan Preece and the No. 36 Ford of Matt Tift — failed multiple inspections and will be forced to start at the rear of the field. Preece also had his car chief ejected for this race, while Bowman, Truex and Tift will compete without their race engineers.
Chase Elliott, who won the playoff race at Dover last fall, will start on the pole. Elliott scored his first victory of 2019 last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway.
Seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson holds the track record with 11 wins. Mired in a career-long slump, Johnson has not won a series race since capturing No. 11 at Dover on June 4, 2017.