Boyd Gaming 300 Qualifying Is Canceled, and NASCAR Xfinity Series Fans Are Irked

Michael Hein

02/22/2020 03:08 pm EST

NASCAR fans suffered their second weather cancellation of the season on Saturday, and they are not pleased. The Boyd Gaming 300 Qualifying was canceled due to heavy rain in Las Vegas, Nevada, and fans were disappointed. Social media soon filled with grumbles about the racing postponement.

It has been a rocky start to the season for NASCAR fans, who missed the Daytona 500 last weekend due to a cautious rain delay. The race was moved to Monday afternoon instead, meaning that fans with work that day could not watch live.

This weekend, there was a similar issue at the Boyd Gaming 300 Qualifying in Las Vegas. On Saturday afternoon NASCAR Xfinity announced that the qualifying laps would be canceled as heavy rain began to fall on the track.

There is still a chance that the race itself will go on as planned, provided the weather clears up later in the day. Meteorologists predict that the rain will stop around 3 p.m. ET, and then skies will be clear all afternoon. The race is scheduled to start at 4:16 p.m. ET, so the timing may work out perfectly.

Even so, fans were irked to have yet another weekend of racing thrown off by the weather. After an emotional week of sending thoughts and prayers to race car driver Ryan Newman, many just wanted to kick back and enjoy Saturday's race. Instead, they are left wondering if the whole thing will fall through, and if they will be able to rearrange their plans for watching.

Here is what fans are saying about the Boyd Gaming 300 rain delay online.

Not Canceled

News of the cancellation was hard for some fans, who thought that the entire race had been called off. Some fans found fun ways of clarifying that only the qualifying laps were canceled, while the rest of the race would go on as planned. Instead, a system of "owner points" was used to determine the starting lineup for the race itself.

Desert

The irony of the rain delay did not escape fans, who suspected that the desert state of Nevada would be the last place they had to worry about rain delays.

Conditions

Logistically speaking, experts said that the conditions would be good for the actual start time of the race. However, they noted that it would be a tight fit, especially in the generally dry area of Las Vegas.

Bad Luck

Fans felt that this delay was irrefutable evidence that NASCAR as a whole was suffering from plain old bad luck this year. Many wondered what superstitious norm had been violated to bring rain down on a literal desert.

Advantage

For some, the owner points system put their favorite driver near the front, so they were pleased that the rain actually gave them an advantage in the race. They took the silver lining wherever they could get it.

Twice in a Row

Not only was there an improbably rain delay in Las Vegas, this was the second year in a row according to some racing fans.

Other Festivities

While the race itself was facing challenges, organizers urged fans not to go running for their homes or hotel rooms just yet. Other events, booths and festivities around the speedway were up and running, promising to remain so, rain or shine.

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