March 29 (UPI) -- The 2021 Cup Series Food City Dirt Race has been postponed until 4 p.m. EDT Monday due to heavy rain and flooding, which made the dirt track too muddy for competition last weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Drivers originally were scheduled to start their engines at 3:30 p.m. EDT Sunday at the Bristol, Tenn., track. Cup Series and Truck Series qualifying races also were scheduled for Saturday and had to be canceled due to the bad weather in the area.
The Camping World Truck Series' Pinty's Truck Race on Dirt also was moved from Saturday to Sunday, but had to be postponed for a second time and will be at noon EDT Monday at Bristol. The Cup Series race airs on Fox, while the Truck Series race airs on FS1.
The Food City Dirt Race is the Cup Series' first dirt race since 1970.
Kyle Larson won the pole for the Cup Series race based on performance metrics measured by NASCAR, but is expected to start at the back of the field because his crew changed the engine in his No. 5 Chevrolet on Friday. Larson had been the betting favorite to win the event.
Cup Series standings leader Denny Hamlin earned the second spot in the starting order, followed by Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. in the Top 5. Kevin Harvick, Alex Bowman, William Byron, Austin Dillon and Joey Logano also are on track to start in the Top 10.
John Hunter Nemechek will start first for the Truck Series race Monday at Bristol.
