Rain the desert? Go figure.
That was the reality on Saturday afternoon, when rain delayed the start of the Boyd Gaming 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and ultimately halted the proceedings after completion of the first stage.
The first stage ended after Lap 45. Drivers came to pit road and completed Laps 46-50 under caution before NASCAR red-flagged the event. A subsequent downpour forced the sanctioning body to postpone the final 150 laps until Sunday, approximately one hour after the completion of the Pennzoil 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at the 1.5-mile track (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
The Xfinity Series race will be broadcast on FS2, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Joe Graf Jr., who did not come to pit road during the stage break, is leading, followed by first stage winner Chase Briscoe and Austin Cindric.
Briscoe took the lead off pit road for a restart on Lap 23, after the first caution of the race for Daniel Hemric’s spin and collision with the frontstretch wall on Lap 18. On Lap 35, Ross Chastain passed Brandon Jones for the second spot and held it through the end of the stage.
NASCAR continued track-drying efforts until 6:45 p.m. local time, when another rain shower hit the track and forced the postponement.
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.
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