Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300 resumes after rain delay
BRISTOL, Tenn. -- The NASCAR XFINITY Series Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300 is back under way after a lengthy rain delay at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Kyle Larson was leading when the red flag was first waved because of rain. Larson started from the pole and led 154 of the first 162 laps before rain brought out the red flag.
The first rain came after Larson won the first 85-lap stage of the three-segment race and just eight laps short of completion of the second stage. Completion of the first two stages are required to make the race results official, had NASCAR been unable to get it restarted after the rain delay.
Jet dryers were hard at work trying to get the track dry after the rains ceased, but there is more bad weather in the area. The drivers climbed back in their cars and fired their engines again around 3:15 p.m. ET, only to have the rain begin again before they could get back on track.
Finally, at 3:44 p.m. ET, after a total delay of more than 1 hour and 38 minutes, cars were able to get back on the track.
At 3 p.m., the chance for isolated thunderstorms and accompanying rain increased to 70 percent. The updated weather.com forecast then called for the chance of precipitation to hover between 70 and 85 percent for the remainder of the afternoon and into the evening.
Some drivers evidently needed cooled down after the delay, as Ross Chastain and Jeremy Clements scuffled on pit road after Chastain approached Clements from behind in a moment caught by local photographer Earl Neikirk and put out on Twitter. Chastain then spoke with FOX Sports television reporter Jamie Little about what went down.
https://twitter.com/earlneikirk/status/855860094239735808
https://twitter.com/NASCARONFOX/status/855871001552277505
