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Mother Nature has not been on NASCAR's side too often in 2021, and the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 marked yet another race that had to be postponed this season. The Cup Series was able to get about 42 laps of short-track action in before they were halted by rain and forced back to pit road.
The initial start had already been delayed by two hours due to rain, which put the start time at around 9:10 pm. After a half-hour period of driver interviews, NASCAR officials announced that the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 will resume at 4 p.m. on Sunday. The Xfinity Series race - which also had to be postponed due to rain on Friday - will get underway first, at noon, and both races will be telecast on Fox.
Denny Hamlin was leading Joey Logano when the Cup race had to be stopped. Ryan Blaney was third, ahead of Martin Truex Jr., while Chase Elliott rounded out the top 5.
Did NASCAR make the right calls this weekend?
Unfortunately for NASCAR, they can probably expect some criticism thrown their way because they didn't make the call to run rain tires at the event a week after testing them at the .526-mile oval. They might also get called out for trying to somehow get to the halfway point of the Cup race in order to be able to call it official (should the rain have arrived at 50% distance), instead of coming to terms with the possibility that Saturday night would be a no-go and rescheduling for Sunday.
However, while NASCAR did test tires in wet conditions at Martinsville, one has to remember that they didn't get all the answers they were looking for. It could have put the competitors in a bad spot had they gone ahead.
And while it's upsetting to see Mother Nature win for a second straight week in a row, a NASCAR doubleheader on a Sunday is an appealing proposition. Between seven different winners so far in the Cup Series this season and the Dash for Cash in the Xfinity Series, it should make for quite a day of short-track action.
