Richmond Truck Race Postponed by Lightning, Rain
NXTbets Pro | Published On: August 15, 2026
Richmond postponement
Friday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Richmond Raceway was postponed after rain and lightning hit before the green flag. The Black’s Tire 250 Presented by BTS Rewards was set to start at 7:30 p.m. ET, but showers reached the 0.75-mile track first and stopped the field from taking the opening lap. NASCAR held the race for nearly two hours, then moved it to Saturday when heavy rain and repeated lightning strikes left no way to begin on time. The delay changed the rhythm of the entire evening at Richmond. Crews prepared for a Friday night race, drivers waited through the weather and the event never reached green-flag action. The postponement became the night’s defining development because the race could not get started at all. Richmond Raceway still had the Truck Series event on the schedule, but the original start time disappeared under the storm and forced everyone involved to reset for the next day.
Richmond reschedule
The Black’s Tire 250 Presented by BTS Rewards was reset for noon ET Saturday and was set to air on FOX Sports 2. That move created a NASCAR doubleheader Saturday at Richmond Raceway and shifted the Truck Series race into a new place on the weekend card. The change also kept the original front row intact for the rescheduled start. Shane van Gisbergen won the pole position and was set to lead the field to green, with Kaden Honeycutt alongside him. Van Gisbergen’s pole carried extra weight because it was his first oval pole in any NASCAR division. The weather wiped out the first attempt to race, but it did not change the lineup that had already been earned before the storm hit. The revised schedule gave the event a fresh start, with the same pole winner, the same front-row pairing and a new noon start time the next day.
Riggs points lead
The postponement also left the points race in focus. Layne Riggs held a 100-point lead over Kaden Honeycutt heading into the Richmond event, and the delay kept that cushion in place until the race could be run. With two regular-season races remaining, Riggs could clinch the No. 1 seed in The Chase at Richmond. That made the rescheduled race important even before a lap was completed, because the result could shape the top of the standings. Honeycutt already had a front-row starting spot, so the matchup between the two drivers stayed central to the weekend once the race moved to Saturday. Riggs’ lead gave him a clear position entering the event, and the new start time only sharpened the stakes around it. Richmond’s weather stopped the race before it began, but the points battle, the pole position and the doubleheader schedule all carried forward into the next day.
