The beginning of the Sharpie Mini 300 was delayed an hour and a half due to rain over Bristol Motor Speedway. On lap 171, NASCAR brought out the red flag because the rain began to fall again. As is the case any time there is rain at the track, there were some teams hoping the rain continued, while others hoped that the rain would blow out of the area so they can continue racing. Clint Bowyer must have done a very good rain dance in the infield after the red flag. NASCAR called the Sharpie Mini 300 because of rain, Giving Clint Bowyer and his #2 Chevy the team's first victory in NASCAR Nationwide Series racing of 2008. Bowyer is running for the Nationwide Series championship this season.
Drivers had trouble from the beginning of the race due to the green conditions on the race track. On lap 5, Bobby Labonte spun his #21 car, nearly saving it. Unfortunately for Labonte, he ended up hitting the wall. Labonte finished seven laps back. Martin Truex Jr. also had trouble early in the race. He got tapped from behind, sending his #5 National Guard Chevy spinning and getting into the wall. Truex Jr. also collected Kyle Busch on the way back down after hitting the wall. This would be the third time in three weeks that Kyle Busch was knocked out of contention in the Nationwide Series.
NASCAR did not risk having another mess like they did at California Speedway three weeks ago. Bristol Motor Speedway has lights which allows for racing at night, however the storm that was coming in to the area would not clear out in a reasonable amount of time. Three weeks ago, NASCAR was criticized for attempting to continue the Auto Club 500 after a five hour rain delay. NASCAR finally postponed the race at 11:00pm local time.
The continuing rain at Bristol is also a concern for the Sprint Cup race tomorrow. The Nationwide Series drivers had problems early in the race due to the green conditions at the track. Though the forecast for tomorrow calls for clear skies at race time, there will likely be no rubber on the track, creating loose conditions.
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