Xfinity drivers find altered conditions in rain-delayed Dover race

Rea White

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Xfinity drivers find altered conditions in rain-delayed Dover race image

NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers found themselves racing on a green track early Sunday after rain delayed the scheduled start from Saturday.

The delay of the Drive Sober 200 at Dover caused driver changes. Three contenders in the Chase for the Sprint Cup were scheduled to be in the race — Kyle Busch, Joey Logano and Austin Dillon. All were replaced so they could focus on their afternoon races. Four others — Josh Wise, Matt DiBenedetto, Ty Dillon and Regan Smith — planned double duty.

It's a critical race for the Xfinity Chase drivers. Elliott Sadler locked into the next round of the Chase with his win last weekend. This is the second of the three-race elimination format in that series.

MORE: 16 for '16: Cup Chase drivers | Busch's car gets pre-race repairs

Daniel Suarez, Brendan Gaughan, Ryan Reed, Darrell Wallace Jr., Justin Allgaier, Brennan Poole, Blake Koch, Erik Jones, Ryan Sieg, Brandon Jones and Ty Dillon are also in the Xfinity Chase.

Erik Jones entered the championship series as the top seed, but his title quest was in jeopardy. A crash at Kentucky dropped Jones to ninth in the Xfinity standings, one place out of transfer position. Sunday, he struggled with a front-end vibration.

Drivers also found an early lack of grip on the track. As the NBC analysts pointed out, the track looked gray late into the opening half of the race, a sign that there just wasn't much rubber on it after rain washed off any build-up on Saturday afternoon. With the Xfinity race before the Cup race, the Sprint Cup drivers won't face this issue.

MORE: Sprint Cup starting lineup | Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Dover

Still, while drivers sometimes slipped before retaking control, other problems were hampering them early.

Wise's run didn't last long because of an early engine failure. DiBenedetto was behind him and was hit and was also in the garage during that caution.

The second caution came out for Jordan Anderson on Lap 35 after a right front tire failure. Ty Dillon, a Chase contender who had come from the back, also bounced off the wall in the incident.

The third caution came out for Ryan Ellis, who took a hard hit into the outside and then inside wall coming off Turn 4.

Then came this crash.

The racing action will continue about 2:15 p.m. ET when the Sprint Cup drivers race in the third race of that Chase.

Rea White