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Officials, fans preparing for rain threat at Charlotte Motor Speedway

CONCORD, N.C. — Officials got a lot of practice dealing with the rain Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

They had to cancel a practice run in the morning, and then had to delay the Xfinity race with about 28 laps to go.

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“Wet track and 200 miles an hour race cars just don’t go together really well,” said Jonathan Coleman, with the Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Officials and fans are preparing for the threat of rain for the entire weekend.

Outside of the speedway, crowds have been packing the campgrounds.

Fans told Channel 9 they aren’t surprised by the wet weather. In fact, they’ve come to expect it.

“Last year, it rained like heck and it just took everything. They had the warning system come on,” said Carl Roach, who traveled from Charleston for the race. “Just put bigger tarps over everything and buckle up.”

Charlotte Motor Speedway officials said they are ready for the rain. They have 13 jet dryers to dry the track, along with a dozen machines called the Air Titan, known as one of the biggest dryers on the market.

That’s double the drying equipment NASCAR recommends.

“It's really just been communicating with our campers as they arrive,” Coleman said. “Be weather aware, keep an eye out and then deal with small issues as they crop up.”

Race officials are monitoring conditions for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600.

If the race is rained out on Sunday, officials said they will attempt to run the race on Memorial Day.

York County Detective Mike Doty, who was killed in January during an ambush, was honored during Saturday's Xfinity race.

Driver Joey Gase drove a car honoring Doty, using it as a message for organ donation.

Doty's organs were donated to save the lives of two people.