Sunday at Martinsville now a NASCAR Cup, Truck doubleheader
By Nick Tylwalk
With snow and rain falling at Martinsville Speedway, both the STP 500 and the vast majority of the Alpha Energy Solutions 250 will now take place on Sunday.
When more drivers are wearing winter beanies than baseball caps around the garage area, you know it’s not good racing weather. That’s exactly what one saw Saturday afternoon at Martinsvilel Speedway, when NASCAR was hoping the trucks could get the Alpha Energy Solutions 250 in before one last burst of wintry weather hit the track.
Alas, that did not happen. The Truck Series race briefly went green, but there were a few snowflakes falling right from the start. The red flag ended up flying on lap 23, with pole-sitter Ben Rhodes in the lead.
Obviously, that wasn’t even close to the end of Stage 1, let alone Stage 2, so the Alpha Energy Solutions 250 will now run the rest of its laps on Sunday afternoon, following the STP 500. That means fans will be treated to a Cup Series/Truck Series doubleheader at Martinsville, in that order.
The bad news is that the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session scheduled to take place this evening will also be rained out, meaning the field will be set by owner points. That will put Martin Truex Jr. on the pole for the STP 500 with Kyle Busch starting beside him in Row 1, the same way they lined up last week at Fontana.
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The precipitation is expected to continue in the Martinsville area all night, but it should let up by the morning and allow both races to be run. It’s still going to be a cold day for racing, with highs expected to only reach the mid-40s, so bundle up if you’re going to the track on Sunday.