Unfortunately, there won’t be any racing at Pocono Raceway today thanks to constant rain, thick fog and the fact Pocono doesn’t have lights.
But the wet elements have provided some memorable visuals from the track in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Here’s some of the best shots of the rain soaked Pocono that have been shared on social media.
Big Diamond Speedway sits in Pennsylvania’s coal country and it hosts weekly dirt track racing every Friday night. We profiled the fast short track on Thursday’s edition of NASCAR America.
LONG POND, Pa. -- The maiden voyage of the NASCAR XFINITY Series at Pocono Raceway was shorter than planned, but race winner Kyle Larson wasn't complaining.
NASCAR awarded the checkered flag in the Pocono Green 250 to Larson when the race was red-flagged after 53 of 100 scheduled laps and then called because of persistent rain.
The victory was Larson's first of the season and fourth in the series, but it was a source of frustration to runner-up Erik Jones, who arguably had the fastest car and was closing rapidly on Larson when a rain shower blew in from the west and stopped the action.
Ty Dillon finished third, followed by Kyle Busch and Joey Logano. Ninth-place finisher Daniel Suarez maintained an 11-point lead in the series standings over Elliott Sadler, who ran sixth.
The caution flag flew for the fifth time on Lap 52, when a stormed cell drenched Turn 3 and began to move over the entire track. Another shower followed and then a steady rain, forcing NASCAR to shorten the race.
Larson likely was the only driver in the field who welcomed the downpour.
"I'm happy with it," Larson said. "Now that the race is over and we got the win, it can clear out so we can race (on Sunday) for the (NASCAR Sprint) Cup race ... I had kept a gap on him (Jones) for about four laps when he was in second.
"The rain was coming, and it was starting to sprinkle on his windshield. We weren't quite to halfway yet (when a race becomes official), so I wasn't really saying much on the radio, but once we did get to halfway, it started coming down a lot harder. We were going to be racing a lot harder in the next lap or half a lap maybe, so I'm happy that it started downpouring when it did."
Before the race was stopped, Jones had moved from fourth on a Lap 44 restart to second place and was pressuring Larson for the lead when rain began to fall in earnest.
"It's pretty frustrating," said Jones, who has two wins, three runner-up finishes and a pair of thirds in 12 races this season. "You look at this whole year, and it's kind of been a season of just missing it by that much.
"We've missed a few races with penalties and circumstance and the way things worked out, and today was another one of those days where I thought we had a good shot at the win, and the way it played out, it just didn’t work out for us."
Larson had surged into the top spot on Lap 35 and stayed on the track under the fourth caution of the race, brought about by a violent collision between the Ford of Ryan Reed and the Chevrolet of Jeremy Clements.
After the restart on Lap 44, Larson pulled away to a lead of nearly two seconds before Jones starting gaining ground on the No. 42 Chevrolet. Jones was roughly one car-length behind when NASCAR threw the caution flag for rain.
A lap later, the sanctioning body red-flagged the race. During the stoppage, however, an ongoing feud between Reed and Sieg boiled over into a shoving match in the garage. Contact between their two cars had preceded Reed’s accident with Clements.
"You can't race around the kid," Sieg said of Reed, a Roush Fenway Racing driver. "He's got a lot of money, and he's got a Roush car, but he can’t drive it. ... Money can't buy skill, obviously, with him. We had a really good car, but it just sucks that it's torn up here in the garage, and we've got nothing to show for it."
Reed was more restrained in his comments, appropriately so because of the circumstances. It was Reed's car that good loose in side-by-side racing and initiated the first contact with Sieg. Subsequently, a cut tire on Reed's Ford led to his brush with the wall and the collision Clements' Chevy, which was collected when Reed spun down from the outside wall to the center of the track.
"Emotions run high, obviously," Reed said. "It's racing. I look forward to talking about it in a calm, cool, collected manner and working it out. Obviously, we race every week, and it’s not going to do us any good to go out there and get into a battle royal."
The brouhaha in the garage marked the end of the excitement, however, as the rain persisted, and NASCAR called the race just before 4 p.m., after a stoppage of one hour, 35 minutes.
Caution came out for rain at Pocono Raceway Saturday on Lap 52 of the scheduled 100 laps in the Pocono Green 250 NASCAR XFINITY Series race.
Kyle Larson was leading at the time of the caution in the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. The race was red-flagged at Lap 54.
NASCAR was drying the track in an effort to get the race back underway. Since the race passed its midway point, it would be considered official should it get called.
Pocono Raceway does not have lights so darkness could become a factor. Sunset is expected at 8:30 p.m. ET.
Rain is also in the forecast for Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race, the Axalta 'We Paint Winners' 400 (1 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.)
Get weather updates on NASCAR.com or the NASCAR Mobile app.
Boxing and cultural icon Muhammad Ali, who passed away Friday at age 74, has a direct connection to NASCAR -- specifically, to Hall of Famer Bill Elliott.
Yes, "The Greatest" and "Awesome Bill" have a history that dates back to 2001 when Elliott sported a likeness of Ali on his No. 9 Dodge while driving for Ray Evernham.
The special paint scheme was revealed at historic Bristol Motor Speedway, and then run June 10, 2001, at Michigan International Speedway. Ali lived in Michigan at the time.
The scheme partnered Ali and NASCAR in a promotion of the Special Olympics, and also to support a new diversity scholarship program that Dodge had implemented and NASCAR was supporting.
Ali thrilled drivers that day when he unexpectedly walked into the drivers' meeting and earned a standing ovation.
"If I had a fast car, I'd be out there racing against you," Ali said, according to a 2001 report in the Daily Press (Virginia) newspaper. The legendary boxer later gave the command to start the race.
The partnership certainly left a mark on Chase Elliott who, like Ali's daughter Laila, followed in his father's footsteps.
CONCORD, N.C. -- This week, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been busy.
First came a chance to take part in a Goodyear tire test at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, where the driver said the No. 88 team got "good information."
He then helped introduce the Dale Jr. No. 88 Special Edition Chevy Silverado.
Next up before heading to Pocono Raceway for this weekend's festivities was a chance to travel to Ohio for a special Nationwide event.
Earnhardt got a chance to mingle with fellow Nationwide team member Peyton Manning, play-by-play announcer Mike Tirico and wildlife advocate Jack Hanna at the event.
The event helped lead up to the PGA Tour's Memorial Tournament, which is presented by Nationwide.
