FORT WORTH, Texas: NASCAR’s playoff race at Texas Motor Speedway finally resumed Wednesday, three days after it started.
The restart came nearly 72 1/2 hours after the race was red-flagged Sunday because of misty conditions and drizzle in the area that persisted until early Wednesday.
It was overcast with temperatures still in the mid-40s when the race resumed, but there was no more precipitation in the forecast. There were about 300 people in the stands.
Air Titan and jet dryer trucks, including some extras brought in from other tracks, did laps around the 1 1/2-mile track for nearly five hours before Clint Bowyer and Jimmie Johnson restarted 1-2. The 40-car field resumed with four caution laps before going green on lap 57.
Only 52 of the scheduled 334 laps were completed Sunday.
Erik Jones was third at the restart, ahead of Joey Logano, the only driver locked into one of the four championship-contending spots in the season finale at Phoenix on Nov. 8.
Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman and Kurt Busch are the seven drivers still in contention for the final three spots.
Harvick won the last three fall races in Texas and is a nine-time winner this season, but was running 36th and a lap down. He had damage to the right side of his car after he brushed the wall while leading on lap 29, but was back on the lead lap just a few laps in Wednesday.
Truex restarted fifth, having already recovered from being forced to start at the back of the field because of an illegal spoiler, a penalty that also included a 20-point penalty. He was just ahead of Elliott, with Keselowski ninth. Busch was 14th, Hamlin 15th and Bowman 18th.
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