BRISTOL, Tenn: The increased threat of inclement weather throughout the Bristol, Tenn. region Friday forced NASCAR to scrap all on-track activities for the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series and NASCAR Cup Series respectively.
The expected announcement became official just after 10:00 a.m. local Friday morning. With the garages not set to open until the early afternoon, most drivers and teams were still in North Carolina.
Friday was to consist of a pair of practice sessions for both Cup and Trucks in preparation for night races at the half-mile oval converted to a manmade dirt track for the third consecutive year.
Saturday’s revised schedule which was released Friday morning just after 11:00 a.m. ET will not include practice for both series, instead pushing the divisions right into heat races.
The Truck Series garage will open at 11:00 a.m., with the Cup an hour later at noon. The Truck Series heat races will begin at 4:30 p.m., with Cup to follow at 6:00 p.m., weather permitting.
A threat of inclement weather, however, remains for the Bristol, Tenn. area on Sat., April 8, – which could interfere with the heat races.
Should rain force the cancelation of those events, all 37 entries including the No. 13 entry provided by Kaulig Racing for dirt standout Jonathan Davenport will compete in Sunday night’s Cup Food City Dirt Race.
41 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series teams were pre-entered for Saturday night’s feature which will send five vehicles home.
Should weather play a factor, the trucks of Norm Benning, Jessica Friesen, Andrew Gordon, Joey Logano and Josh Reaume are expected to miss the starting grid for the WEATHER GUARD Truck Race on Dirt.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01 or email at: [email protected].
