There might be some light at the end of a rainy tunnel that is the forecast for Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday. While it still looks wet for the scheduled 1 p.m. ET start for Sunday’s Food City 500, there could be a window of opportunity late in the day and evening for some racing.
The above image is the Saturday morning update for forecast data between 8 a.m. and 2 a.m. Monday morning. Most of the data I’ve seen the last 24 hours has consistently shown the initial wave of rain diminishing and drying out sometime between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. Sunday evening. The data has been inconsistent on the exact time it ends, but there could be a big enough window to start a race and potentially get to halfway or beyond.
CAN WE RACE SUNDAY? I’ve increased the odds of seeing a race Sunday to around 40 percent. While I think a window opens up sometime between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. ET it’s not necessarily a slam dunk. But I am growing more optimistic that we can potentially get a race in late in the day, or evening on Sunday.
SHOULD I GO TO THE RACE SUNDAY OR MONDAY? These questions are the hardest to answer because I can’t, nor will I tell someone what they should do. If I paid money to go to a race, and as a meteorologist if I saw the smallest glimmer of a window, I’d probably take the risk and go, but that’s me. I recommend that if you are trying to decide whether or not to go, don’t just use my weather forecast but look at as many reliable weather sources as you can.
WHAT DOES MONDAY’S FORECAST LOOK LIKE? The more optimistic I grow about Sunday the less I think Monday is needed. Maybe it’s just the NASCAR fan in me, but because the odds of racing Sunday are still only 40 percent. The weather forecast for Monday (if needed) still has rain possible, but the rain is not as widespread as Sunday. If NASCAR were to postpone Sunday’s race then they could get it in Monday sometime, in my opinion.
With rain in the forecast and expected on radar Sunday morning, please follow me on Twitter @NASCAR_WXMAN and like me on Facebook for the latest weather updates as this forecast develops going into the weekend.
Conditions in Bristol, Tennessee.
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Race Schedule: All Times Eastern
SATURDAY:
9:45 a.m ET
Xfinity Series qualifying – Sun and clouds – temp: 65
11:30 a.m ET
Sprint Cup Series final practice – Sun and clouds – temp: 72
1:30 p.m ET
Xfinity Series race – Sun and clouds – temp: 77
SUNDAY:
11 a.m ET
Sprint Cup pre-race – Rain showers, poss. storms – temp: 63
12 p.m ET
Sprint Cup pre-race – Rain showers, poss. storms – temp: 65
1 p.m ET
Sprint Cup race – Rain showers, poss. storms – temp: 67
2 p.m ET
Sprint Cup race – Rain showers, poss. storms – temp: 69
3 p.m ET
Sprint Cup race – Rain showers, poss. storms – temp: 69
4 p.m ET
Sprint Cup race – Rain showers, poss. storms – temp: 69
6 p.m ET
Sprint Cup race – Chance of showers – temp: 69
8 p.m ET
Sprint Cup race – Chance of showers – temp: 66
10 p.m ET
Sprint Cup race – Chance of showers – temp: 65
MONDAY Weather Forecast:
Mostly cloudy with scattered showers and possible thunderstorms. – High: 71
