Rain postpones Dodge Avenger 500 until Sunday

DARLINGTON, S.C. -- Mother's Day for NASCAR families will be delayed as Mother Nature unleashed her evil doing on Darlington's Cup race.

Rain postponed Saturday night's Dodge Avenger 500 until Sunday at 1 p.m. ET. FOX will carry the television broadcast.

Loyal NASCAR fans, covered in trash bags and other rain gear, sat in the stands well after the scheduled start time of 7 p.m. ET still believing the show would go on.

Clouds gathered mid-afternoon and then the downpour came at least an hour before the race was set to begin.

After waiting nearly two hours for the storm to clear, NASCAR officials announced the race would be postponed.

The delay would have potentially created a logistical nightmare for crews and teams trying to make a NASCAR-scheduled test of the Car of Tomorrow on Monday at the Dover International Speedway, but NASCAR announced the two-day test will be cut to a single session starting at 9 a.m. ET on Tuesday, according to NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp.

But even that may cramp the schedules of most teams.

"I'm going to be honest ... our whole race team is hoping NASCAR cancels the whole test," said Steve Lane, crew chief for the No. 40 Dodge of David Stremme. "We are behind enough with this rain delay and this is going to put a big strain on our guys who want to go home and spend time with their moms on Mother's Day. As it is right now, they have to go home and turn the trucks right back around."

The last time a Cup Series race was held on Mother's Day was 1986 in the All-Star event held in Atlanta.

This is the second consecutive weekend the Nextel Cup race has been postponed on account of rain, as last week's Richmond race was delayed from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon..