UPDATE AS OF 9:15 p.m. ET:
The lightning and rain is gone, Charlotte Motor Speedway is dried and the Alsco Uniforms 500 NASCAR Cup race has resumed after a delay of 74 minutes.
The green flag came on Lap 34, meaning there were 174 laps remaining.
Weather radar indicates rain has moved out of the area and the race should be able to be run to its scheduled completion.
ORIGINAL STORY
Tonight’s NASCAR Cup race is under a red flag stoppage, first after lightning was detected within eight miles of Charlotte Motor Speedway, and now rain is coming down.
The race has only gone 30 laps of the scheduled 55-lap Stage 1. The overall race is scheduled for 208 laps.
Joey Logano, who already has two wins this season (Las Vegas and Phoenix), is scored the leader, followed by Ryan Blaney, Matt DiBenedetto, Kurt Busch and Alex Bowman.
Just before the red flag, Brad Keselowski suffered a flat tire while Matt Kenseth spun trying to get to pit road. Kenseth said he also had a flat tire that caused the spin. While Keselowski made contact with the wall, neither he nor Kenseth made contact with anyone else.
There also was an opening lap incident between Garrett Smithley and Joey Gase, both whose cars suffered heavy damage and are out of the race.