NASCAR got all wet Saturday night in Richmond and had to postpone its Crown Royal 400 until Sunday. Jet dryers were used to prepare the track's surface after rain fell before the start on the race on the Richmond International Raceway. However, threatening skies gave way to a downpour leading to the postponement after only 12 low-speed laps. Some cars nearly slid off the track before the action was halted. I'm not much of a NASCAR fan, but I hear that Jimmie Johnson won the race on a dry track Sunday.
Juan Pablo Montoya is not used to rain delaying races, The News & Advance out Lynchburg, Va., reports. Montoya came over to NASCAR this year after running on the Formula 1 circuit, where races are not stopped because of rain, but rather racing slicks are exchanged for grooved rain tires.
"Probably the best story is when half the field in Formula One wrecked in the same corner in Brazil. When was that, like 2003? It was raining hard, but there was like a river coming across the track," Montoya said.
Weekend Baseball Delays
I love photos of grounds crews working their tarp magic at the ol' ballpark. Above is an AP photo of the crew members at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City removing the tarp after heavy rain delayed the start of the Royals' game with Detroit by 26 minutes. The Tigers won 13-4. (AP Photo/Dick Whipple). The first pitch of the Reds game with the Colorado Rockies Saturday night at the Great American Ballpark was delayed by 61 minutes.
Tennis Action On The Skids
Who knew there was a Steffi Graf Stadium? I guess a lot of people in Germany know of its existence, but today was the first I, a Steffi fan, had heard about it. Anyway, the Getty Images photo above shows fans waiting through a rain delay on the opening day of the Qatar German Open. Nothing exciting here, but it does give me a chance to mention Steffi on The Rainout Blog. …Justine Henin defeated Alona Bondarenko 6-1, 6-3 Monday to win her second J&S Cup title after rain postponed Sunday's action for a day.
SPRINKLES: A high school baseball tournament in Illinois scheduled to begin last Friday was postponed a day because of tornado warnings and a visible funnel cloud that appeared near the ballpark. "I've never been tornadoed out," said Mike Waldo, pitching coach of the host team Edwardsville Tigers. The twister appeared just as the visiting team was taking infield practice. …A writer for OutlookIndia.com is asking why the recent rain-plagued
cricket World Cup was not played in February and March when weather in the Caribbean has less humidity and rain.
Weather Term of the Day:TORNADO ALLEY -- A geographic corridor in the United States which stretches north from Texas to Nebraska and Iowa. In terms of sheer numbers, this section of the United States receives more tornadoes than any other.
By the way, Deadspin.com -- the king of all sports blogs, according to Neil Best -- reminds us that today is the anniversary of the big rain and wind storm that hit Busch Stadium last year.
NASCAR got all wet Saturday night in Richmond and had to postpone its Crown Royal 400 until Sunday. Jet dryers were used to prepare the track's surface after rain fell before the start on the race on the Richmond International Raceway. However, threatening skies gave way to a downpour leading to the postponement after only 12 low-speed laps. Some cars nearly slid off the track before the action was halted. I'm not much of a NASCAR fan, but I hear that Jimmie Johnson won the race on a dry track Sunday. 
I love photos of grounds crews working their tarp magic at the ol' ballpark. Above is an AP photo of the crew members at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City removing the tarp after heavy rain delayed the start of the Royals' game with Detroit by 26 minutes. The Tigers won 13-4. (AP Photo/Dick Whipple). The first pitch of the Reds game with the Colorado Rockies Saturday night at the Great American Ballpark was delayed by 61 minutes.
Who knew there was a Steffi Graf Stadium? I guess a lot of people in Germany know of its existence, but today was the first I, a Steffi fan, had heard about it. Anyway, the Getty Images photo above shows fans waiting through a rain delay on the opening day of the Qatar German Open. Nothing exciting here, but it does give me a chance to mention Steffi on The Rainout Blog. …Justine Henin defeated Alona Bondarenko 6-1, 6-3 Monday to win her second J&S Cup title after rain postponed Sunday's action for a day.
A severe storm washed out Wednesday night's game in Arlington, Texas between the Rangers and New York Yankees, forcing the two teams to play a doubleheader Thursday. Another storm swept through the area briefly during the second game, but this time halted the action for only 40 minutes. The AP photo above shows the grounds crew removing the tarp while a rainbow appears above the ballpark. The Yankees went on to win game two, thus sweeping the double dip and the series from the Rangers. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Sprinkles: There still is a 50 percent chance of rain and thunderstorms for Saturday's 133rd running of the Kentucky Derby, according the Louisville, Ky., bureau of the National Weather Service. Friday, USA-Today quoted meteorologist Don Kirkpatrick of the NWS as saying, "Some of those (storms) in the afternoon could get into the strong level, as far as producing small hail and that sort of thing." However, the forecaster went on to say that those storms were not expected to hit Churchill Downs. By the way, Storm in May is a long shot at 30-1. Below you can watch Smarty Jones take the 2004 Derby crown in the Kentucky mud …Rain has suspended play at the Italian Open. Joakim Backstrom of Sweden was leading when the rains began. I don't Tiger is playing this event. He's getting wet in Charlotte, N.C. (above) …Forecasters say rain is likely in Richmond, Va., for Saturday night's NASCAR race there, so expect many delays.