NASCAR postpones Richmond Sprint Cup, Nationwide races to Sunday
RICHMOND, Va. – NASCAR has postponed the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 from Saturday night to 1 p.m. EDT Sunday at Richmond International Raceway because of the threat of Tropical Storm Hanna, series officials announced Friday. The officials canceled qualifying for both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide series races Friday as well.
With up to four inches of rain possible in the Richmond area, NASCAR officials opted to go ahead and postpone the events Friday. The Nationwide Series race will be run Sunday at 7 p.m. after the stands are cleared from the Cup race.
"We’ve been in constant touch today with the governor’s office, Henrico County officials, and other local officials and reached this decision about (5 p.m.) after much discussion and consideration," NASCAR Vice President Jim Hunter said. "The emergency officials in the state and locally are telling us there are going to be some high winds tonight and in the morning that could knock down power lines, knock down trees in the roads. We just felt like this was the right thing to do."
The Cup race, the final of NASCAR’s regular season that will set the 12-driver Chase For The Sprint Cup field, will now go up against the first full day of the NFL and will be televised on ESPN. The Nationwide race will be on ESPN2.
The Cup race will no longer be an impound event as teams will now be allowed to work on the cars Sunday morning before the race.
"We worked very, very closely with NASCAR and the local officials and keeping a very close eye on the weather," Richmond International Raceway President Doug Fritz said. "Sometimes there’s hope and sometimes there’s not. … We’re still looking forward to two days of great racing all crammed into one now."
