NASCAR can't catch a break when it comes to weather and championship logistics.

Officials had to cut the AAA Texas 500 short by 41 laps Sunday because of rain. It was the second year in a row that rain affected the Chase elimination-style format. Last year it rained in Phoenix — of all places — forcing the race to be cut from 312 to 219 laps.

“Joey Logano probably said it best: We make every effort to get the race in under its advertised distance,” Steve O'Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer, said during his weekly appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

“You saw especially the circumstances (Sunday) with over six hours to try to dry a racetrack, at some point you've got to keep the fans in mind, but also the competitors, the amount of time that they've had preparing for a race, and when does it get too late?. ...

“We were a little short; that's unfortunate, but the policy that's been in place.”

Bottom line: It stinks, but there was no other logical and reasonable choice.

Jarrett's perspective: Give Dale Earnhardt Jr. credit for helping shift the conversation about concussions in the sport to a more holistic approach.

That wasn't the case just a few years ago and certainly not when Dale Jarrett was competing.

Jarrett, a Hall of Famer and now an NBC analyst, spoke about his experiences from concussions Sunday during a rain delay at Texas.

“In three weeks, I will be 60 years old and I do struggle with memory loss, with things in my brain I know probably came from some of those concussions. That's what I've been told,” Jarrett said. “Would it have happened anyway without the concussions that I went through? I'm not sure.”

Jarrett, who retired in 2008, applauded NASCAR's relatively new concussions protocol.

“Appreciate that someone is looking after you in this day and time,” he said.

Scholarship awarded: Florida A&M University student Michael Sanchez took third place in the second annual NASCAR Chevrolet Diversity Scholarship Contest.

He was among four undergraduate students nationally awarded a total of $20,000 in scholarships and treated to a VIP experience at the Cup race in Texas last weekend.

The contest challenged students to identify a technology or innovation within NASCAR, then explain how STEM professionals came to its design in 90-second videos.

— George Diaz