Unrelenting rain forces postponement of Food City 500 at Bristol

BRISTOL, Tenn. -- The Food City 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race scheduled for Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway has been postponed until Monday because of heavy, persistent rain.

The race will run on Monday at 1 p.m. ET on FOX.

Thunderstorms and heavy rain hit the track and its surrounding areas hard on Sunday, starting late Saturday and continuing early in the morning. The rain was unrelenting throughout the late morning – and the forecast was no better for the rest of the day and well into the evening.

In fact, according to weather.com, the rain is likely to continue through tonight and until around 7 a.m. ET Monday morning.

Then the forecast improves dramatically, with the chance of precipitation dropping from 75 percent at 7 a.m. to 20 percent by 9 a.m., and then down to between 5 percent and 10 percent until 2 p.m. when it increases only to 25 percent.

Friday qualifying at Bristol was canceled because of bad weather as well, meaning the starting lineup has been set according to owner points.

That puts points leader Kyle Larson on the pole, with Chase Elliott alongside him on the front row.