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NASCAR

Rain mars Michigan Cup race; FireKeepers Casino 400 rescheduled for Monday

Despite the best efforts of track officials, Mother Nature got the better of Michigan International Speedway.

The FireKeepers Casino, the 15th race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, was rescheduled for Monday after persistent rain kept drivers from taking the green flag.

Fox Sports 1 will televise the 400-mile, 200-lap race beginning at 5 p.m. ET following the broadcasts of two Women's World Cup matches in France.

Precipitation hit the Brooklyn, Michigan area in the early afternoon, prompting a delay from the original start time of 2:10 p.m. ET.

As the rain let up, track dryers readied the 2-mile oval for racing and a planned 3:05 p.m. ET start. Drivers began taking warmup laps in preparation for the green flag, but just as officials signaled one lap to go before the yellow flag was replaced with the green, the rain returned, and drivers were forced to bring their cars back to pit road.

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Cup cars, including Denny Hamlin's No. 11 Toyota, were covered on pit road as rain fell at Michigan International Speedway.

NASCAR officials, hoping the rain would clear out, waited until 4:35 p.m. ET before announcing the postponement. Michigan International Speedway does not have lights, so a Sunday night race was not a possibility.

Team Penske's Joey Logano, who topped Saturday's qualifying, will lead the field to green on Monday alongside Aric Almirola.

The Cup Series returns to Michigan on Aug. 11 for another Sunday afternoon race. The series is off next weekend before a June 23 stop at Sonoma Raceway for the first road-course race of the season.

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