Dale Jr crashes before Rockingham halted by rain

The start of the race was delayed by just over an hour and half due to rain. A near capacity crowd was in attendance taking advantage of the opportunity to honour Earnhardt, the seven-time NASCAR Winston Cup champion who was killed in last Sunday's Daytona 500.

When the green flag was finally waved, Earnhardt Jr crashed almost immediately in the third turn on the first lap after Ron Hornaday ran into the back of his Chevrolet. Earnhardt climbed out of his car and walked down the banking of the track with a limp.

"I got piled up there getting into Turn 3, and somebody got into the back end of me and I couldn't keep it under control once that happened," said Earnhardt. "Robby Gordon's car slid down in front of me, and everybody kind of backed off. And then we were sliding and suddenly we were going in the wrong direction.

"I got into the wall a little too hard. I think it killed the car, but we're doing all right. I was just really ready to get back to racing, but now I guess I'll just have to get ready for Las Vegas. I want everybody back home to know we're feeling OK."

When asked why he was limping, Earnhardt said: "The lap belt was a little too tight. So, I'm a little bruised up. We'll be okay."

It was a broken lap belt that contributed to his father's injuries in the Daytona 500.

During this caution, it began to rain and the field circled behind the pace car until the 32nd lap, when racing resumed. Gordon was in the lead followed by Stewart, Rudd and Bobby Labonte at the restart. But 19 laps later, it began to rain again and the race was postponed.

The race is scheduled for an 1100hrs Eastern Standard Time restart tomorrow (Monday). Stacy Compton is the leader followed by Jeff Gordon, Steve Park, Tony Stewart and Ricky Rudd.