Rain halts Martinsville Speedway race after 42 laps

After rain forced an approximate hour-and-a-half delay to start the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday night, wet weather further interrupted the weekend schedule. Only 42 laps were completed Saturday before a red flag after the completion of 42 laps of the scheduled 500. The race will resume at 4 p.m. ET Sunday. The postponement of the second NASCAR race of the weekend at Martinsville results in a Sunday doubleheader at the track. The NASCAR Xfinity Series only completed 92 laps of the 250-lap Cook Out 250 on Friday night. The resumption of that race is scheduled for noon Sunday.

Denny Hamlin was the leader of the Blue-Emu 500 at the time of Saturday night’s red flag. He took the lead from pole sitter Joey Logano on lap four and maintained his lead through pit stops during a lap-37 caution for a James Davison spin. The race never returned to green from that caution, the first caution of the race.

“Track is wet, by the way,” Hamlin told his team over the radio during the caution.

Logano was second when the Cup Series race was red flagged. Ryan Blaney, Martin Truex Jr. and Chase Elliott rounded out the top-five.