Heavy rains postpone Xfinity Drive for the Cure 300 until Sunday
By Ted Fleming
Hurricane Matthew has far reaching effects even though it is still off the Florida-Georgia coast. NASCAR has called of all Friday activities at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Rather than wait to see if there will be a break in the weather, NASCAR has called off all on-track activities at Charlotte Motor Speedway including the Xfinity Drive for the Cure 300 Presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of NC that was scheduled for Friday night. It was supposed to be the race that eliminated four drivers from the first ever Chase in that series.
The Drive for the Cure 300 has been rescheduled, not for Saturday, but to Sunday at 11:00 a.m. because rain is predicted for most of tomorrow with clearing late in the day when NASCAR hopes to get in the Bank of America 500. The green flag is supposed to drop just after 7:00 p.m. although that could be delayed as well.
A number of activities were supposed to take place at CMS on Friday including a pair of Sprint Cup practices. Qualifying was able to take place before rain moved in. Kevin Harvick took the pole with Alex Bowman starting alongside on the front row.
Along with the postponement of the Xfinity race, qualifying was also wiped out. It was scheduled for 4:30 p.m. The starting field will be set by the rule book which sets the field by fastest-to-slowest practice speeds from both of Thursday’s sessions meaning Kyle Larson will start on the pole.
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Erik Jones, the favorite to win the title before he moves up to the Sprint Cup Series next year, will start on the front row. He currently sits outside the top 8 cut-off line and could miss moving into the next round of the Chase despite having four wins, 13 top-5 and 16 top-10 finishes.
With the Xfinity race moved to Sunday, coverage will remain on NBC Sports Network, with radio broadcast on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.