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NASCAR Rings Fans - Imagine yourself getting ready to watch the Lord of the Rings marathon, only to see the Coke Zero 400. It happened, and movie fans were really upset with TNT. The event was supposed to run last Saturday night, but the NASCAR race was postponed to Sunday morning due to rain.

NASCAR and the Lord of the Rings fans are two totally different genres. Some people joked that it was a way to convert movie watchers into NASCAR viewers, while others complained that they waited all day to watch the marathon and are displeased. Yes, the film is 10 years old, but the marathons are popular. The fans asked for mercy, but got a racetrack instead.

“Fans took to Twitter like a hobbit to Longbottom Leaf,” according to The Daily Caller. “Crying about the life-crushing disappointment of missing seeing the movie for the nth time and complete with commercials,” the site said. The marathon they waited for was interrupted by NASCAR. Some Twitter users were so angry, they wanted to boycott TNT and NASCAR.

Lord of the Rings continues to have a large following. Remember, this wasn’t just any movie day, this was a marathon. TNT advertised it for over a week, but when people tuned it, they got were shocked about the sports programming.

When race coverage began on TNT, it preempted the third movie in the popular, fantasy-adventure trilogy “Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.” Most cable companies still had the “Lord of the Rings” marathon listed in television guides. However, movie buffs didn’t get the memo.

A NASCAR and Lord of the Rings play-by-play for fans would’ve been nice. As it turned out, the time slot still ended up with a kingly theme. Aric Almirola won the rain-shortened Sprint Cup race at Daytona International Speedway, putting Richard Petty’s famed blue No. 43 back in Victory Lane for the first time since 1999. Petty is a seven-time NASCAR champion nicknamed “The King.”

So this was a return of sorts for The King, who also was celebrating the 30th anniversary of his 200th career win. Just not the return many TNT viewers were looking for Sunday. In fact, people are still upset as they gathered around the water cooler on Monday.

NASCAR and the Lord of the Rings fans do have one thing in common. They both love entertainment, especially long marathons. The TV network is hoping to brush this under the rug, but viewers will think twice before sitting down to watch another scheduled movie with TNT. NASCAR ruined it for everyone who wanted to see the Rings. Rain happens.