On the latest episode of the “Hauler Talk” podcast, Mike Forde, NASCAR vice president of racing communications, said the call was made Saturday morning to start earlier because of a significant chance of rain at 5 p.m. ET.
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“With a 3 p.m. start time, you’re looking at maybe getting through Stage 2,” Forde said. “The average time of the race is about three hours, so if we moved it up only an hour, we’re probably not going to get in all 160 laps.”
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Because of the logistics to move the broadcast compound and other setup equipment to Naval Base Coronado, Forde said the contingency plan was 8 a.m. ET start if the Pocono race had been postponed to Monday.
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“We really, really needed to get that race in on Sunday,” Forde said. “There were a lot of things working against us if we had a rain situation. So I think everyone was pretty eager and had a lot of angst to get that race going by any means possible, and everyone worked together.
— NASCAR.com —