October 13, 2019 | By Lee Spencer

Rain delays 1000Bulbs.com 500 at Talladega

TALLADEGA, Ala.—Mother Nature won the 1000Bulbs.com 500 on Sunday.

NASCAR was forced to delay the race due to rain, but fans were treated to 57 laps of racing before the sanctioning body red-flagged the race.

The race will resume at 2:00 p.m. ET, with the garage opening at 10 am.

Chase Elliott led the field to green with his three Hendrick Motorsports teammates in tow—but his time at the point was short-lived as the Fords flexed their muscles with Brad Keselowski taking charge on the first lap.

Denny Hamlin, who started at the rear of the field after an engine change, climbed to 23rd by the second lap and ran second behind Kyle Busch on Lap 5.

Ryan Blaney was in the lead when the Fords elected to pit on Lap 34. As the No. 12 Dent Wizard Mustang eased onto pit road, Blaney spun into the grass. After gathering himself and limping to the pits, Blaney dropped to the rear of the field.

Two laps later, the first caution was called after Spencer Boyd’s car stalled out in Turn 4. Elliott, who had pitted one lap earlier but did not get the No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet completely filled with fuel, returned to pit road under caution for additional gas.

Keselowski held the lead on the restart followed by Aric Almirola, Ryan Newman, Daniel Suarez, Joey Logano, Erik Jones, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Clint Bowyer.

Newman grabbed the lead on the next lap, but the tandem of Keselowski pushed by Bowyer shot through the field on Lap 44 blowing the lead line away. The Chevys regained their momentum with Kurt Busch taking the point on Lap 46 with Elliott returning to the lead one lap later.

The 16th and final lead change occurred on Lap 55 as William Byron slid down from the middle lane in front of Logano for the Stage 1 win. Logano, Bowman, Stenhouse, Keselowski, Larson Johnson, Suarez, Blaney and Kurt Busch rounded out the top 10.

When the caution flag waved for the stage break, Paul Menard brought the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford to pit road where he climbed from the car and turned the seat over to Matt Crafton. Menard, who has suffered from chronic neck pain due to sports mishaps early in his career, elected not to further injure himself.

The field came down pit road after Lap 57 and covered the cars.