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Bristol NASCAR Cup Series race postponed to Monday by rain

Mike Metcalfe with the Kyle Larson team reads a book as he shelters from the rain before a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Sunday, April 15, 2018 in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Mike Metcalfe with the Kyle Larson team reads a book as he shelters from the rain before a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Sunday, April 15, 2018 in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

NASCAR’s weather luck at Bristol Motor Speedway hasn’t been very good lately.

Sunday’s Cup Series race was delayed by rain before the start and halted three different times for water falling from the sky. The third delay proved fatal for the chances of a Sunday conclusion as NASCAR made the decision shortly before 5 p.m. ET to push the rest of the race to Monday.

The race will resume at 1 p.m. ET on Fox.

Kyle Larson was the race leader with 204 of 500 laps complete when the third red flag for rain began. NASCAR’s rules mandate the race’s first two stages must be complete for a race to be official. The end of stage two at Bristol is lap 250, meaning NASCAR needs to complete 46 more laps for the race to count.

The first 204 laps have been eventful. Michael McDowell crashed and took out Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr. on lap 3. At the end of the first stage, race leader Ryan Blaney got caught up in a crash ahead of him. The crash eliminated Blaney from the race and allowed his teammate Brad Keselowski to win the first stage.

Sunday’s race is the third spring race in the last four years to be delayed by rain. Carl Edwards won a primetime finish in 2015 and Jimmie Johnson’s win at Bristol last year came on a Monday.

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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.

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