By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
Following consistent rain Saturday, all on-track activity has been canceled at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Among the activities was qualifying for both XFINITY and Monster Energy NASCAR Cup, with both lineups being determined by the rulebook.
The XFINITY Series Lilly Diabetes 250 will be moved to 10 a.m. ET on Monday morning while the Brickyard 400 is scheduled for green flag Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
With no scheduled track time before green flag for each respective series, drivers are surprisingly optimistic about the conditions to come despite zero practice time.
“If we are forced to start with the setup we unloaded with, I think we will be in good shape,” said Jimmie Johnson. “It will save some frustration along the way. And no qualifying. Hell, this is great!”
Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, also lacked concern for the wet weekend.
“Yes, I haven’t raced here in a couple years but I feel like we unload close, we seem to run better when the track rubber up,” Bowman said. “I’m all for just sending it to the race. That may be better for us.
“I think we may have some floaties we may attach to the car, a rotor in the back, we can all take a vote on rain tires. It’s going to be interesting for sure.”