W
Ward Burton
Guest
CONCORD, N.C. -- NASCAR couldn't win this round against Mother Nature.
A day-long downpour -- and the forceast for still more rain through the rest of Thursday -- forced NASCAR officials to postpone NASCAR Winston Cup Bud Pole Qualifying for Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
Instead, qualifying for both the NASCAR Busch Series Carquest Auto Parts 300 and Coca-Cola 600 will be held on Friday afternoon.
"Maybe we should think about starting a boat series in NASCAR," driver Johnny Benson said. "With as much rain as we have had today we could put on a pretty good show for the fans."
"As far as Winston Cup, this rain delay doesn't really matter a whole lot. Losing Thursday will put us on our normal weekend schedule of qualifying on Friday, practicing on Saturday and racing on Sunday.
"I'm sorry for the fans who were coming out tonight, but even NASCAR has trouble getting Mother Nature to cooperate. I hear it isn't looking real good for tomorrow either, but I hope we can get practice and qualifying in."
As it stands, weather permitting, Winston Cup cars will practice for 75 minutes, beginning at 10:15 a.m. ET. The Busch Series cars then will take to the track for a 70-minute practice, beginning at 11:35 a.m.
Winston Cup Bud Pole Qualifying is now scheduled for 1 p.m., immediately followed by Bud Pole Qualifying for the Busch Series.
Time permitting, the Busch Series will return to the track for a final practice session.
Benson said the real concern comes if the weather doesn't cooperate on Friday.
"If we miss tomorrow then I think the crew chiefs might start getting a little nervous," he said. "They all know Charlotte pretty well by now. But last weekend's practice and the Winston were all about making your car good on short runs. This weekend in a 600-mile race you better be good on long runs.
"This is the longest race of the year, but if your car isn't good on the long runs then it's going to seem like this race is 1,000 miles, not 600 miles."
A day-long downpour -- and the forceast for still more rain through the rest of Thursday -- forced NASCAR officials to postpone NASCAR Winston Cup Bud Pole Qualifying for Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
Instead, qualifying for both the NASCAR Busch Series Carquest Auto Parts 300 and Coca-Cola 600 will be held on Friday afternoon.
"Maybe we should think about starting a boat series in NASCAR," driver Johnny Benson said. "With as much rain as we have had today we could put on a pretty good show for the fans."
"As far as Winston Cup, this rain delay doesn't really matter a whole lot. Losing Thursday will put us on our normal weekend schedule of qualifying on Friday, practicing on Saturday and racing on Sunday.
"I'm sorry for the fans who were coming out tonight, but even NASCAR has trouble getting Mother Nature to cooperate. I hear it isn't looking real good for tomorrow either, but I hope we can get practice and qualifying in."
As it stands, weather permitting, Winston Cup cars will practice for 75 minutes, beginning at 10:15 a.m. ET. The Busch Series cars then will take to the track for a 70-minute practice, beginning at 11:35 a.m.
Winston Cup Bud Pole Qualifying is now scheduled for 1 p.m., immediately followed by Bud Pole Qualifying for the Busch Series.
Time permitting, the Busch Series will return to the track for a final practice session.
Benson said the real concern comes if the weather doesn't cooperate on Friday.
"If we miss tomorrow then I think the crew chiefs might start getting a little nervous," he said. "They all know Charlotte pretty well by now. But last weekend's practice and the Winston were all about making your car good on short runs. This weekend in a 600-mile race you better be good on long runs.
"This is the longest race of the year, but if your car isn't good on the long runs then it's going to seem like this race is 1,000 miles, not 600 miles."