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NASCAR officials to postpone the Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 until Monday at 12:15 p.m. ET with coverage on ESPN beginning at noon ET.
Pennsylvania 500 moved to Monday due to weather
Heavy rain, fog and 'weepers' too much to overcome
By Mark Aumann, NASCAR.COM
August 2, 2009
05:21 PM EDT
LONG POND, Pa. -- A heavy morning shower, coupled with groundwater seepage in Pocono Raceway's asphalt surface, forced NASCAR officials to postpone the Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 until Monday at 12:15 p.m. ET with coverage on ESPN beginning at noon ET.
The rain tapered off more than an hour before the scheduled start time of 2:20 p.m., but then two other issues presented themselves. Thick fog made it difficult to see the front grandstand from the infield, making it almost impossible for spotters to see all three corners of Pocono's 2.5-mile racing surface. However, a combination of a light breeze and a rise in the temperature allowed the clouds to lift.
But the second issue turned out to be the biggest problem. Track crews were unable to solve the issue of a series of "weepers" in the turns, areas where the groundwater continually seeps through cracks in the surface of the asphalt. Part of the problem stemmed from the amount of rain that peppered the area Friday, resulting in the cancellation of Friday's qualifying. In addition, light showers continued to pop up in the area during the afternoon, hampering some of the track-drying efforts.
"When you're sitting here and see blue skies at one end and dark clouds on the other end, it's really frustrating," NASCAR president Mike Helton said shortly before the decision was announced. "We're trying everything we can ... to get this thing started. The worst enemy we've got right now is time because it's going to be dark about 8:30 and this is a four-hour race."
Two hours after the green flag was supposed to fly, NASCAR officials made the postponement announcement as the sun came out from behind the clouds for the first time all day.
Monday's weather calls for partly cloudy skies with a 10 percent chance of rain and a high temperature of 77 degrees.
NASCAR also announced that a scheduled late Monday afternoon visit by three-time defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson and some other NASCAR personalities to the White House to meet with President Barack Obama "will be rescheduled and we'll provide further details when they're available."
That event never impacted NASCAR's consideration for rescheduling the event to Monday, a NASCAR spokesman said.
Red Bull Racing truck driver Jim Gilbert said the rescheduling wouldn't impact teams' trip later this week to the next event at Watkins Glen International in upstate New York.
"It's not going to be too bad this week even if we're here Monday," Gilbert said. "We've got enough people at the shop to turn the truck around so everything will be good. We'll still leave on Wednesday afternoon, Wednesday evening and we have to park [at WGI] Thursday at 7 p.m., so it's really not too bad of a deal.
"We'll still be back at the shop Monday evening and they'll turn the truck around on Tuesday and Wednesday morning and we'll be back on the road again."
Heavy rain, fog and 'weepers' too much to overcome
By Mark Aumann, NASCAR.COM
August 2, 2009
05:21 PM EDT
LONG POND, Pa. -- A heavy morning shower, coupled with groundwater seepage in Pocono Raceway's asphalt surface, forced NASCAR officials to postpone the Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 until Monday at 12:15 p.m. ET with coverage on ESPN beginning at noon ET.
The rain tapered off more than an hour before the scheduled start time of 2:20 p.m., but then two other issues presented themselves. Thick fog made it difficult to see the front grandstand from the infield, making it almost impossible for spotters to see all three corners of Pocono's 2.5-mile racing surface. However, a combination of a light breeze and a rise in the temperature allowed the clouds to lift.
But the second issue turned out to be the biggest problem. Track crews were unable to solve the issue of a series of "weepers" in the turns, areas where the groundwater continually seeps through cracks in the surface of the asphalt. Part of the problem stemmed from the amount of rain that peppered the area Friday, resulting in the cancellation of Friday's qualifying. In addition, light showers continued to pop up in the area during the afternoon, hampering some of the track-drying efforts.
"When you're sitting here and see blue skies at one end and dark clouds on the other end, it's really frustrating," NASCAR president Mike Helton said shortly before the decision was announced. "We're trying everything we can ... to get this thing started. The worst enemy we've got right now is time because it's going to be dark about 8:30 and this is a four-hour race."
Two hours after the green flag was supposed to fly, NASCAR officials made the postponement announcement as the sun came out from behind the clouds for the first time all day.
Monday's weather calls for partly cloudy skies with a 10 percent chance of rain and a high temperature of 77 degrees.
NASCAR also announced that a scheduled late Monday afternoon visit by three-time defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson and some other NASCAR personalities to the White House to meet with President Barack Obama "will be rescheduled and we'll provide further details when they're available."
That event never impacted NASCAR's consideration for rescheduling the event to Monday, a NASCAR spokesman said.
Red Bull Racing truck driver Jim Gilbert said the rescheduling wouldn't impact teams' trip later this week to the next event at Watkins Glen International in upstate New York.
"It's not going to be too bad this week even if we're here Monday," Gilbert said. "We've got enough people at the shop to turn the truck around so everything will be good. We'll still leave on Wednesday afternoon, Wednesday evening and we have to park [at WGI] Thursday at 7 p.m., so it's really not too bad of a deal.
"We'll still be back at the shop Monday evening and they'll turn the truck around on Tuesday and Wednesday morning and we'll be back on the road again."
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