Anatomy of a rain delay: Junior hurt by clear skies

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- When the raindrops arrived in full force Sunday at Martinsville Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his No. 8 Chevrolet were in the lead, giving him, his crew and his legions of fans donning various degrees of red garments in the sellout crowd plenty of reason to root for a downpour that would have rained out the remaining 143 laps of the Goody's Cool Orange 500.

Alas, it ended up being only a mild and brief shower that delayed the race a mere 33 minutes -- long enough to spoil Earnhardt's designs on winning. Here is an anatomy of the rain delay:

4:33 p.m. -- Denise Maloof, manager of communications for the Nextel Cup Series, is sitting upstairs in the press box when she spots a troublesome green patch on the weather radar. The track is marked with an X on the image that dances on the screen of her laptop, and she keeps diligent watch. The rain system identified by the green, though apparently on the small side, is no doubt headed right for Martinsville Speedway.

"The question isn't if it's going to rain, but when ... and how much?" she said. "Plus I don't know what's behind that system we're seeing now."

Lap-by-Lap

For every move Jeff Gordon made, Jimmie Johnson countered in a thrilling finish at Martinsville. But before that, the first 499 laps had to play out.

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4:48 p.m. -- The rain begins. Very quickly it goes from a light mist to a fairly hard downpour.

4:50 p.m. -- The red flag is thrown, sending cars scurrying to pit road, where the drivers climb out and sprint through the rain while crew members scramble to throw covers over their cars.

4:53 p.m. -- Even as the rain begins to slow, the conspiracy theorists are out before the sun shows itself again. One public relations man was asked how long he thought it would be before NASCAR makes a decision on whether to start the race again.

"I don't know. Junior is leading, so it might be quicker than anyone thinks," he said with a smile.

4:55 p.m. -- David Stremme and Juan Montoya, teammates at Chip Ganassi Racing, exchange information on pit road as the rain already begins to lighten to the point where it's just spitting. The track, however, has been soaked and with dark clouds still looming all around, there is no guarantee that the race will go green again.

Montoya, the rookie and former Formula One driver who was supposed to struggle badly on NASCAR's short tracks, is running a very respectable 11th.

"If we get back out there, great. If not, points are points -- and 11th is not bad," Montoya said.

Soon the trucks with jet engines mounted onto them that dry the track begin to slowly move by, drowning out everything else Montoya has to say. He shakes his head as he places his hands over his ears and moves away. (Continued)