There is another spring race at Bristol Motor Speedway, and although NASCAR moved the race from March to April, it appears fans and teams will once again be dealing with the threat of wet weather, especially on Sunday.
The above image is one forecast model’s outlook for Sunday. It’s fairly similar to all that I’ve seen but it does end the rain sooner than the others. It starts from 8 a.m. ET Sunday morning to around 5 to 7 p.m. ET Sunday evening. After about 6 p.m. ET this forecast model has a good portion of the rain exiting and drying out, while two other ones keep rain around overnight.
CAN WE RACE SUNDAY? The forecast is not very optimistic but they managed to find a way to race last year. One thing about NASCAR is they will do whatever they can and wait out as long as they can to get a race started. They will have the Air Titan 2.0, so if there are long enough breaks in the rain then there would be a chance. Odds of racing Sunday (including racing under the lights), around 30 percent.
YOU’RE A METEOROLOGIST, YOU CAN BE WRONG: I’m in the business of predicting the future, of course I can be wrong. But myself and my weather partner, meteorologist Aaron Studwell ( @RaceWeather on Twitter), both agree it will rain on Sunday. As I mentioned above, if the rain can clear out by evening or we get a long enough break for the Air Titan to do its thing, then NASCAR could find a way to race Sunday night.
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? It still looks wet for evening Monday. Rain and possible thunderstorms. There might be a chance in the morning but rain showers move in quickly Monday around midday. This is a very challenging forecast for both Sunday and Monday.
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
FRIDAY:
12:00 p.m ET
Sprint Cup Series practice – Mostly cloudy, slight chance of a shower – temp: 65
1:30 p.m ET
Xfinity Series practice – Mostly cloudy, slight chance of a shower – temp: 67
3:00 p.m ET
Xfinity Series final practice – Mostly cloudy, slight chance of a shower – temp: 72
4:45 p.m ET
Sprint Cup qualifying – Mostly cloudy, slight chance of a shower – temp: 71
SATURDAY:
8:30 a.m ET
Sprint Cup Series practice – Sun and clouds – temp: 56
9:45 a.m ET
Xfinity Series qualifying – Sun and clouds – temp: 60
11:30 a.m ET
Sprint Cup Series final practice – Sun and clouds – temp: 68
1:30 p.m ET
Xfinity Series race – Sun and clouds – temp: 73
SUNDAY:
11 a.m ET
Sprint Cup pre-race – Rain showers, poss. storms – temp: 60
12 p.m ET
Sprint Cup pre-race – Rain showers, poss. storms – temp: 61
1 p.m ET
Sprint Cup race – Rain showers, poss. storms – temp: 63
2 p.m ET
Sprint Cup race – Rain showers, poss. storms – temp: 63
3 p.m ET
Sprint Cup race – Rain showers, poss. storms – temp: 64
4 p.m ET
Sprint Cup race – Rain showers, poss. storms – temp: 64
6 p.m ET
Sprint Cup race – Chance of showers – temp: 63
8 p.m ET
Sprint Cup race – Chance of showers – temp: 63
10 p.m ET
Sprint Cup race – Chance of showers – temp: 60
MONDAY Weather Forecast:
Mostly cloudy with areas of showers and possible thunderstorms. – High: 74
