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Hanna Washes Out Sprint, Nationwide Races At Richmond

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The Associated Press

Published: September 6, 2008

RICHMOND, Va. - Steady rain that began Friday night and expectations that it would continue through today with Tropical Storm Hanna moving in forced NASCAR to postpone tonight's Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway.

The Chevrolet 400, which will finalize the field of 12 drivers who will be eligible to compete for the 2008 series championship, is now scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday.

"We just felt this was the right thing to do," NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter said, adding that the decision was made after consultations with emergency officials in the area who warned that besides heavy rain, the storm was expected to bring high wind.

"Today is going to be a tough day," track president Doug Fritz said, based on the forecasts. "Sometimes there's hope and sometimes there's not. This is one of those moving targets. ...

"We're still looking for two days of great racing, all crammed into one."

The Sprint Cup race will be televised on ESPN, Hunter said, and the Nationwide Series event will be on ESPN2.

The start of that race, scheduled for 7 p.m., will depend on how quickly the grandstands can be cleared following the Sprint Cup race to allow other ticket-holders in.

STEWART HIRES CHIEF: Tony Stewart hired Darian Grubb as crew chief for his new race team next season.

Grubb will move to Stewart-Haas Racing, the team Stewart has taken over. Grubb is lead engineer at Hendrick Motorsports and was crew chief in 2007 for Casey Mears. He also filled in for Chad Knaus and ran Jimmie Johnson's team during Knaus' four-race suspension in 2006.

Johnson won two of the first four races with Grubb running his team.

Stewart has hired Ryan Newman to drive his second car.

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