The last time a NASCAR Cup Series spring race at Dover Motor Speedway was not impacted by nature or a global pandemic was in 2017. That streak will continue for another year as Sunday’s Würth 400 was rained out and pushed to Monday at 12 PM Eastern Time.
The weather had been inconsistent all weekend. The Cup Series was able to squeeze in practice on Friday, albeit after a delay for track drying, but could not conduct qualifying as the rain returned. On the other hand, the Xfinity Series successfully raced on Saturday without much issue, though its qualifying session was also lost to Mother Nature.
While NASCAR has often tried to look for an opening to get some laps in, the sanctioning body pulled the plug three hours before the scheduled green flag at 1 PM.
The 2022 race managed to get seventy-eight laps in before being pushed to Monday. The same fate had struck the 2019 edition, marking the first time a Dover Cup race was postponed since 2007. 2018’s spring race ran to its completion on a Sunday, though it was impacted by a forty-one-minute rain delay in Stage #3.
Dover is the first Cup race of 2023 to be postponed due to weather and the second in any national series after the Xfinity Fontana event in February. The Craftsman Truck Series races at Daytona and Martinsville were shortened by rain.
Chase Elliott is the defending winner, while Brad Keselowski led practice on Friday. Kyle Busch, last week’s race winner at Talladega, will start on the pole alongside Christopher Bell.