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NASCAR Truck race at Charlotte postponed by rain after emotional pre-race

The drivers of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will have to be ready to race very early on Saturday morning

Kyle Busch tribute at rainy Charlotte Motor Speedway

Kyle Busch tribute at rainy Charlotte Motor Speedway

Photo by: David Jensen / Getty Images

The NASCAR community arrived to Charlotte Motor Speedway this weekend facing the unthinkable, trying to deal with the tragic and sudden death of 41-year-old NASCAR Cup star Kyle Busch. 

The Truck Series was first up on Friday, but practice and qualifying were canceled due to rain. Because of Busch's win last weekend, the No. 7 Spire Motorsports truck he was supposed to drive -- now covered in Kyle Busch Motorsports logos -- was set to lead the field to the green flag. Corey Day is behind the wheel for Spire.

After an emotional pre-race show, which featured a moment of silence for Busch and countless small tributes from the teams, fans, and speedway itself, the trucks got rolling. The start was moved up due to the threat of rain, with hopes of at least running enough laps to make the race official.

 

Unfortunately, they had to call off the start due to persistent rain showers that moved into the area. The trucks were brought back down pit road and parked after completing no laps, just after 7pm EST. 

Drivers climbed out of their trucks, and during the delay, several shared their own personal stories of Busch, further memorializing the NASCAR legend while they awaited word on the race.

NASCAR finally called off their efforts an hour later, postponing the race until 8am EST on Saturday morning. FOX Sports 1 will broadcast.

UPDATE: Unfortunately, fog and rain prevented NASCAR from starting the race at 8am EST as well, and the event continues to be in a holding pattern. They postponed it yet again, this time to 9pm EST on Saturday, hoping to run it after the O'Reilly race.

With Ross Chastain and Connor Zilisch running all three races this weekend, the continue threat of rain is seriously throwing a wrench into their plans. When the green flag finally flies for Trucks, Day will lead Layne Riggs, Kaden Honeycutt, Ty Majeski, and Brandon Jones.

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