All on-track activity for Sunday at Martinsville has been postponed

Snow at Martinsville has pushed back today’s events

NASCAR officials have postponed Sunday’s scheduled Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race and conclusion of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway to Monday following persistent snowfall throughout the night.

The Monster Energy Series race at the historic .526-mile venue was slated to begin at 2 p.m. ET, with the remainder of the Truck Series race following — and under the lights. But conditions worsened overnight, causing NASCAR officials to make a quick decision to postpone early Sunday morning.

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race is scheduled to resume at 11 a.m. ET. The Monster Energy Series will follow, at approximately 2 p.m. ET. Both races will be televised on FS1.

“Way more snow than anticipated last night-Met with track/local authorities this morning-resources need to be dedicated to local community-roads-trees down, etc. We’ll put on a great day of NASCAR Monday. #doubleheader Always a tough call but the right one in this case,” NASCRA EVP Steve O’Donnell tweeted.

Defending Monster Energy Series champion Martin Truex Jr. will start from the top spot on the grid for the third straight week after Saturday’s scheduled qualifying was canceled.

Though the Martinsville pole doesn’t count in official statistics, it does have its perks. Truex will pit his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota in the stall closest to the exit from pit road, a huge advantage in terms of potential track position.

“I would have liked to try to get three in a row, no doubt about,” said Truex, who was fastest in both Saturday practices before the rain arrived. “I think we would have had a shot at it. We’ve qualified well here in the past. I’d say that qualifying is probably the strongest thing we’ve done on average here.”

Kyle Busch, whose No. 18 Toyota is second in owner points, will line up next to Truex on the front row

Team Penske teammates Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski will line up side-by-side on the second row in third and fourth, respectively, for the sixth points race of the season.

In the Camping World Truck Series race, Ben Rhodes started from the pole and led every lap before the No. 1 truck of Mike Senica stalled on the track on Lap 15, causing the first caution.

The race never restarted, and NASCAR stopped the trucks on pit road after Lap 23 at 2:16 p.m. Shortly thereafter, NASCAR postponed the race.

Rhodes will remain the leader when the race restarts on Sunday, followed by his ThorSport Racing teammate Matt Crafton, who qualified second, and Kyle Benjamin, who advanced one position from fourth after the start on Saturday.

 

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