Rain forces postponement sets up Monday NASCAR doubleheader at Indy

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - SEPTEMBER 08: The NASCAR Air Titan Track Drying Team attempts to dry the track prior to practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on September 8, 2018 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

Light misting rain at Indianapolis Motor Speedway put a damper on track activities for the third straight day and forced postponement of the Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard until 2 p.m. Monday.

The final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race of the regular season will be run as the second half of a doubleheader with the Lilly Diabetes 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series event, which was postponed from Saturday.

Start time for the Xfinity race is 10 a.m. Both events will be broadcast on NBCSN, IMS and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, Austin Dillon, Ty Dillon, JJ Yeley and Ross Chastain are entered in both races. Blaney, Elliott and Austin Dillon already are locked into the 10-race Cup Playoffs, which start next Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

With the starting lineups for both races ordered according to owner points because of qualifying rainouts, Blaney will lead the field to green in the Lilly Diabetes 250. Kyle Busch, a six-time winner this season, has the top starting spot for the Big Machine Vodka 400, sharing the front row with seven-time winner Kevin Harvick.

Because of inspection failures on Saturday, reigning Cup champion Martin Truex Jr. and Daniel Suarez will drop to the rear from their respective third- and 20th-place starting positions for the start of the Cup race.

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.