A postponed Sunday NASCAR race has one silver lining: NASCAR racing can brighten your Monday! Many great NASCAR moments have happened during rain-delayed races held on a Monday, and here are the best five.
In 2011, NASCAR decided to change up the schedule and moved the Chicagoland Speedway race date from mid-summer to the first race of the Playoffs. That Sunday was drizzly all day long, and, despite efforts made to run the race even after the sun went down, it was postponed to Monday. An overcast sky, but a dry Monday met the Cup Series to open the 2011 Playoffs.
A changing race track all day meant for lots of comers and goers, and the race came down to fuel mileage. During the final 50 lap green flag run to finish the race, Tony Stewart, who had slowly moved forward all race long, saved fuel throughout this final stint. On the final lap, cars ran out of fuel all over the race track, but Stewart went on to take the win and started his improbable 2011 Championship run.
In 2011, rain tires were not used in NASCAR, so rain at a road course meant just the same it means on ovals. The race was postponed to Monday, and it was a battle most of the day between Kyle Busch and Marcos Ambrose. The two combined to lead 70 of the 92 laps run that day.
A Paul Menard crash with four laps to go caused the race to go into overtime, bringing Brad Keselowski up to the back bumper of the leaders. Kyle Busch overshot turn one on the restart giving Keselowski the lead, but Ambrose would get the lead a half-lap later in the carousel. Ambrose would hold on to win as chaos ensued behind him including two crashes in the field causing the race to end under yellow.
Charlotte Motor Speedway has hosted two incredible races since the introduction of the Next-Gen race car. This year’s race just happened to be on a Monday after the Memorial Day Weekend tradition was washed out. The race was chaotic war of attrition featuring 16 caution flags and three different stage winners.
In the end, it was Ryan Blaney who was able to navigate through the front of the field on several late restarts. It was Blaney’s first win in 59 races and just his second career win on an intermediate track.
When the NASCAR Cup Series rolled into Rockingham Speedway for the second race of the 2001 season, the mood was somber. Dale Earnhardt had passed away the previous week in a crash at the Daytona 500, and Kevin Harvick was driving in his place in a white number 29 car. The morose weather followed the mood as rain postponed the event to Monday after only 46 laps under the green flag.
When the race restarted, it was a battle between Earnhardt’s chief rival, Jeff Gordon, and Earnhardt’s protege, Steve Park. The two swapped the lead all day, combining to lead 347 of the 393 laps run. Park would pass Gordon with 55 laps to go, but he would have to fend off Bobby Labonte, defending Cup Series champion for the race win.
Taking the lessons learned from his mentor, Park masterfully held off Labonte to win by a car length. An emotional victory lane followed, and it began the much needed healing process for NASCAR after that tragic day in Daytona.
2012 Daytona Speedweeks was arguably the best Speedweeks of all-time. From the Budweiser Shootout to the Duels to Trucks to Xfinity, the weekend seemed to be building towards an all-time great Daytona 500. Unfortunately, the rain came and postponed the race to Monday at noon, and, if that was not enough, more rain came forcing the race to be run on Monday night.
It turned out to be a blessing in disguise as the grandstands were full and TV viewers aplenty for the primetime show. The race was action packed from the start as 13 drivers took their turn at the front. The race was eventually pushed past midnight and into early Tuesday morning after Juan Pablo Montoya hit a jet dryer under caution at lap 160.
Matt Kenseth overcame overheating issues earlier in the race to take the lead of the race following the red flag. He would never look back holding off his teammate Greg Biffle and Hendrick Motorsports’ Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Could this race at New Hampshire have a case to be added to this list? We are all about to find out.
