NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan suspended until Monday

Bob Pockrass

FOX NASCAR Insider

BROOKLYN, Mich. — The NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan was suspended Sunday with 126 laps remaining and will resume Monday at noon ET.

The race started after about an 85-minute delay for rain, and it was an eventful 74 laps before rain returned to the 2-mile oval. With the large track likely needing at least 90 minutes to dry once the rain stopped and the track not having lights, NASCAR opted to postpone the remainder of the race about 2.5 hours before sundown.

The event would have been official if it had reached the halfway point.

Tyler Reddick held the lead when the race was suspended, followed by Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr. and Erik Jones. Truex was the class of the field, having led 30 laps and winning the opening stage. With teams employing different pit strategies, he restarted the second stage in 30th and had moved up to fourth in less than 25 laps.

[NASCAR Cup Series: Full 2023 schedule, dates, race results]

Some of the favorites already were out of the race — Kyle Busch made it 14 laps before contact with Ryan Blaney and an ensuing spin ended his day; Chase Elliott was out after a flat tire sent him into the wall on Lap 35 and William Byron had a single-car crash at the end of the first stage on Lap 45. Christopher Bell crashed while battling Bowman for the lead on Lap 65 but was able to continue.

“It was really early in the day to have a tire blow like that,” Elliott said. “It was really weird. It’s a bummer but not surprised.”

The event was the fourth Cup race this year postponed because of rain. Races at Dover, Charlotte and New Hampshire earlier this year were run on Mondays.

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including the past 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass, and sign up for the FOX Sports NASCAR Newsletter with Bob Pockrass.

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