NASCAR Cup Series

BMS grandstands cleared a third time, leading to race postponement

Published Aug. 20, 2016 5:13 p.m. ET

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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers logged 38 laps before heavy rains hit Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday night, bringing out a red flag to further delay a race that earlier had its start pushed back because of inclement weather.

After a third clearing of the grandstands for rain and lightning in the area, NASCAR finally called the race for the night. It has been postponed until Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.

As of 9:54 p.m. ET, the rain had stopped for a time -- and NASCAR began attempting to dry the track at 10:03 p.m.

The cars took to the track again under caution, but the rains came again -- harder, this time -- before the race could go green again. The 40-car field ran only 10 laps under caution before the rains returned.

Around 11:15 p.m., track officials ordered the grandstands cleared for a third time on the night because of rain and lightning in the area. The grandstands were cleared twice earlier for the same reasons.

The second call to clear the stands came shortly before the scheduled dropping of the green flag and delayed the start of the race by approximately 30 minutes.

Kyle Busch was leading the race when the rains hit, and will lead the field to green on Sunday, weather permitting.

The forecast for Sunday, according to Weather.com, is not very good. It calls for 65-percent chance of rain at 1 p.m.

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