Rain washes out all track activity Friday at Indy

INDIANAPOLIS -- A steady series of showers Friday afternoon wiped out all on-track activity at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, forcing NASCAR officials to drastically revamp the rest of the weekend schedule for the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.

Instead of morning qualifying and two afternoon practices, Saturday's schedule now includes one long morning practice, qualifying late in the afternoon and an impound.

Skies were threatening all morning but the rain did not being to fall until just before the first of two one-hour practices was scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. ET. The lack of any sunshine, appreciable wind and a steady mist that at times became a heavy shower hampered several efforts to dry the track with safety vehicles and jet dryers.

NASCAR officials had to abandon their final effort at 6 p.m. ET, deciding instead to shuffle the Saturday schedule.

The one Nextel Cup practice will begin at 8:30 a.m. ET and end at 11, with qualifying for Sunday's race set to begin at 4:05 p.m. ET.

It's unclear what the new schedule will do to drivers hoping to run in both the Allstate 400 and Saturday night's Busch Series race at O'Reilly Raceway Park, a few miles west of the Speedway. In addition, Friday night's Craftsman Truck Series race was also in jeopardy, depending on the weather conditions.