Yet there were only a few thousand fans still in their seats more than 24 hours later when David Reutimann finally was declared the anticlimactic winner after only 227 of 400 laps of the rain-plagued race.
Reutimann never led a green-flag lap, winning because he decided to stay on the track when most of the field pitted during the last caution for rain. Ryan Newman also stayed out and finished second -- nearly 61/2 hours after the green flag waved Monday afternoon.
"Obviously I'm happy with the strategy. I feel so bad for the fans out there," Newman said. "Just to see the grandstands that were packed (Sunday) and to come back for Memorial Day knowing people couldn't make it back."
It was more bad luck for NASCAR, which has seen its top two races end with raindrops. Matt Kenseth won the shortened Daytona 500. And while NASCAR called that race quickly, there was a long wait before they gave up Monday.
"It was in the best interest of the fans to put on a show for them," said Robby Gordon, whose pit strategy produced a third-place finish. "Unfortunately we lost a huge part of the population with all the rain delays."
The uninspiring finish comes ahead of Tuesday's town hall meeting with drivers and NASCAR officials.
"It's going to be interesting," Newman said. "It's the first meeting to my knowledge like this. We've been put in a room before and talked to. But it's interesting and nice to have the capability to talk, a two-way street of communication."
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RED-FLAG TIFF: The red flags for rain that plagued the race allowed for drivers to get out of the cars -- and argue.
Tony Stewart went up to Reutimann during a delay in what proved to be the race's halfway point.
"Just being smart out there," Stewart said of what he told Reutimann, in his second full-time Sprint Cup season. "We caught him and he raced us real hard. We've got 425 miles left in the race at that point."
Reutimann's team didn't take kindly to the advice, and Stewart then got into an argument with mechanic Dwayne Bigger.
"Then he's got a bald crew guy down there that wants to jump up there and be Billy Bad Butt," Stewart said. "Maybe he needs to ride in there with him since they both seem to have it all figured out."
But Reutimann said Stewart called to congratulate him after he was awarded the win.
"Tony and I are cool," Reutimann said. "Tony Stewart is one of the guys who has helped me out the most. This was another situation where he was trying to help me."
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LOGISTICAL MESS: Moving a major NASCAR race back a day is no easy task.
Track officials were scrambling Monday morning to clean the track and position the 3,000 workers needed a day after the race was postponed.
"You depend on a lot of volunteer groups to work your trams, your ticket stubbing, concessionaires, souvenir sales, security, the whole nine yards," LMS spokesman Adrian Parker said. "You now have to cover in certain areas because not all of the groups can come back. I would say staffing is the No. 1 concern."
Parker said normally it takes three days to clean the grandstands and infield after a major race. That left crews focusing on only the major areas before the gates opened at 9 a.m. Monday.
It appeared less than half the fans returned. While there were no refunds, track officials announced ticket holders would be entitled to a 10 percent discount for the October race.
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UPON FURTHER REVIEW: Lowe's Motor Speedway officials announced Sunday that it was the first rainout in the event's 50 years. After further research, LMS said Monday it was the second washout.
Track records showed the fourth running of the race in 1963 was pushed back a week from May 26 to June 2 because of heavy rain. Junior Johnson had a comfortable lead late before blowing a tire. Fred Lorenzen ended up in Victory Lane.
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MOMENT OF SILENCE: NASCAR red-flagged the race at 3 p.m. to participate in a moment of silence as part of the national moment of remembrance for Memorial Day.
NASCAR then directed the cars to the frontstretch, where the engines were turned off. The flags around the track were lowered to half-staff, the fans stood and crew members stood at the edge of the pit boxes. Carl Edwards waved a tiny flag outside the car.
The moment of silence lasted for about a minute.
"I was touched by that," Michael Waltrip said.
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RIGGS OUT: Scott Riggs finished 39th in his final race in the No. 36 Toyota for low-budget Tommy Baldwin Racing. The team announced before the green flag that Mike Skinner, Patrick Carpentier and Brian Simo will share driving duties for the rest of the season.
"I just felt like it was time to make a change to see where the race team stacked up against other teams," said Baldwin, who is also the crew chief.
Riggs didn't pit shortly after a red flag early in the race and took the lead. But Riggs, who entered Monday 41st in the points standings, quickly fell to the rear of the field.
Skinner will drive 17 of the remaining 25 races. Carpentier will drive in both events at Pocono Raceway, June 28 at New Hampshire, Sept. 12 at Richmond and Sept. 27 at Dover. Simo will drive in the two road course events.
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LUG NUTS: With Sunday's postponement and then the red flags Monday, Bill Elliott's 800th career start took a while. "I told them it sure was nice of them to throw in a few old man cautions in there with those red flags to let me get out and rest a few minutes," Elliott joked. The 53-year-old driver finished 15th. ... Joey Logano finished ninth a day after his 19th birthday.
