NASCAR Nationwide Race Postponed Until Sunday
NEWTON, Iowa -- The NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Iowa Speedway was postponed Saturday night until 10 a.m. CDT Sunday because of rain.
The race was set to begin at 7 p.m., but rain began falling about 40 minutes before the scheduled start.
Workers were nearly finished drying the track before it started to pour again, forcing officials to push the race back a day.
Austin Dillon will start first after winning the pole for the third week in a row, followed by Sam Hornish Jr., Brian Scott and Brian Vickers.
The postponement, which is the first for a major race in the six-year history of Iowa Speedway, also ensured that field Sunday will be made up solely of Nationwide regulars.
Sprint Cup driver Joey Logano, racing Sunday at Pocono in Pennsylvania, will be replaced by teammate Ryan Blaney.
The threat of bad weather loomed throughout the day. But the rain stayed just west of Newton for afternoon qualifying -- and the track hosted its quickest pole session yet.
Eleven drivers broke the previous high of 135.141 mph set by Elliott Sadler last August, with Dillon leading the way at 136.737.
Dillon became the sixth Nationwide driver to win three consecutive poles. With one more at Michigan next week, he will break the series record.
The race telecast has been moved from ESPN to ESPN2.
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