Dale Earnhardt Jr. voices displeasure with NASCAR leaving Xfinity race green during wet weather

Dale Earnhardt Jr. wasn’t too pleased with NASCAR on Monday. With wet conditions on the track and car windshields covered in water, the former driver thought the race shouldn’t have been running green.

Weather hasn’t cooperated at all in Charlotte for this weekend’s Xfinity Series race or the Coca-Cola 600. Both races were postponed until Monday, with the Alsco Uniforms 300 running starting at 11 a.m. ET and the Cup Series beginning at 3 p.m. ET.

But when the green flag dropped, water still appeared to be an issue. Earnhardt took notice pretty quickly.

“This seems excessive,” Earnhardt wrote.

This seems excessive 🌧️

— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) May 29, 2023

Just 26 laps into the Alsco Uniforms 300, NASCAR waved a caution flag in an attempt to clear the track from some of the water. Eventually, the red flag came out and halted the race.

As much as NASCAR wants to squeeze both races into one day, the wet weather caused too much of a problem and put the safety of drivers at risk. We’ll see if the rain subsides and the track at Charlotte can be cleared at some point.

Originally, the Alsco Uniforms 300 was scheduled for Saturday while the Coca-Cola 600 was set for Sunday evening. Because of the inclement conditions, NASCAR rescheduled both races for Monday.

Coca-Cola 600 Starting Grid

With NASCAR canceling qualifying for the Coca-Cola 600, there’s a unique aspect to the starting grid for the race.

“Byron won the Cup Series’ most recent points race at Darlington Raceway and leads the series with three victories in 2023,” explained NASCAR’s official release. “The performance metric based on Darlington sets the starting lineup for the longest race of the schedule, factoring 15% of fastest lap time position, 25% of the driver’s final race finish position, 25% of the owner’s final race finish position and 35% of the owner points position.”

Here’s a look at the full starting grid:

1. #24 – William Byron
2. #4 – Kevin Harvick
3. #6 – Brad Keselowski
4. #11 – Denny Hamlin
5. #8 – Kyle Busch
6. #9 – Chase Elliott
7. #23 – Bubba Wallace
8. #12 – Ryan Blaney
9. #20 – Christopher Bell
10. #47 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
11. #17 – Chris Buescher
12. #5 – Kyle Larson
13. #21 – Harrison Burton
14. #1 – Ross Chastain
15. #45 – Tyler Reddick
16. #31 – Justin Haley
17. #22 – Joey Logano
18. #19 – Martin Truex Jr.
19. #54 – Ty Gibbs (R)
20. #14 – Chase Briscoe
21. #2 – Austin Cindric
22. #41 – Ryan Preece
23. #10 – Aric Almirola
24. #99 – Daniel Suarez
25. #7 – Corey LaJoie
26. #43 – Erik Jones
27. #16 – A.J. Allmendinger
28. #42 – Noah Gragson (R)
29. #38 – Zane Smith
30. #34 – Michael McDowell
31. #48 – Alex Bowman
32. #77 – Ty Dillon
33. #3 – Austin Dillon
34. #78 – B.J. McLeod
35. #51 – Todd Gilliland
36. #15 – J.J. Yeley
37. #84 – Jimmie Johnson