Rain postpones Sprint Cup race at Texas to Monday

Fort Worth, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Persistent rain at Texas Motor Speedway forced the postponement of Sunday's Duck Commander 500.

The scheduled 500-mile Sprint Cup Series race at Texas has been rescheduled for Monday at noon ET. It will be televised live on Fox.

It had been raining at this 1.5-mile racetrack throughout the day. The race was scheduled to start at roughly 2:17 p.m. local time (3:17 p.m. ET). Shortly before the scheduled start time, NASCAR began track-drying efforts with its new Air Titan system, which was designed to shorten the amount of track-drying time.

Cold temperatures and damp air slowed the drying process. NASCAR executive vice president of racing operations Steve O'Donnell noted in a post on Twitter that "weepers" -- patches of moisture or water seeping up on the track surface -- also stalled the process.

Tony Stewart will lead the 43-car field to the green flag. Stewart won a pole for the first time in 19 months on Saturday when he topped Brad Keselowski in the closing seconds of qualifying at Texas. Keselowski will start second, followed by Kevin Harvick, who is Stewart's teammate at Stewart-Haas Racing. Roush Fenway Racing teammates Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards will roll off fourth and fifth, respectively.

According to the National Weather Service, the forecast for the Fort Worth area calls for mostly cloudy skies with a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2 p.m.

Three of the first seven Sprint Cup races this season have been interrupted by rain. Last month, Bristol featured two delays for a total of 5 hours and 4 minutes. Carl Edwards won that race at nighttime. In February, the season- opening Daytona 500 had delays of 6 hours and 22 minutes for inclement weather. The event resumed under the lights at Daytona, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. taking the checkered flag shortly before midnight.