Weather Postpones Pennsylvania 500 Till Monday At Pocono

August 2, 2009

LONG POND, Pa. (Aug. 2, 2009) – Steady rain and “weeper worry” in several locations on the 2.5-mile triangular-shaped Pocono Raceway forced officials to postpone today’s Pennsylvania 500 until tomorrow.  I it has been rescheduled for 12:15 p.m. Monday.

Heavy rain hit the track Sunday morning. It let up about an hour before the scheduled 2 p.m. start and the sky brightened for driver introductions. The rain returned about 3:30 p.m. and soaked the surface again. There was light rain the rest of the afternoon, forcing the postponement.

There was also some concern about "weepers" - water that seeps up through the track following heavy precipitation on the triangle track. Pocono does not have lights and faced a time crunch to start the race.

“I think you’ll see a better race at this point if we race tomorrow (Monday),” said Miller Lite Dodge crew chief Pat Tryson.   “If we had started the race today and ran out of daylight before the 200 laps had been run, it could have created a situation where NASCAR would say 10 laps to go.  Then it would be a situation where some cars could make it (on fuel) and some couldn’t.  It’s always a little easier when you know what to expect.  Tomorrow, everyone will start with the idea we’re going to go 500 miles.”

The NASCAR Sprint Cup garage will open at 9:30 a.m. The race is scheduled to start Monday at 12:00 noon EDT and be televised on ESPN. SPEED will air a special edition of NASCAR Raceday at 11:00a.m.   MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio will air the race live on radio.