All eyes have been on the weather and the weather forecast for this week’s NASCAR weekend at Dover International Raceway. Earlier in the week, it looked like a hurricane was headed for the east coast and possibly Dover, Del. Now that the storm is going to stay well away from the United States, there are other weather factors to contend with.
Stalled front off the coast of the Mid Atlantic along with the stalled storm system over the Carolinas will keep the threat of rain over the Monster Mile Saturday and again Sunday. While no one wants to hear about rain on a race weekend, the weather forecast has improved greatly from what it was on Wednesday.
FRIDAY WAS A WASH, WHAT ABOUT SATURDAY?
Friday’s track events were washed out, that included Sprint Cup qualifying. NASCAR also decided to cancel Xfinity qualifying. There are two scheduled Sprint Cup practices at 11 a.m. ET and 12:30 p.m. ET. Rain is still likely through the morning and into the afternoon. While there will be more breaks in the rain Saturday than there were on Friday, we could see delays and more things cancelled. Xfinity series race is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET and I give the odds of racing around 45 to 50 percent.
WILL SUNDAY BE A WASH?
The good news for Sunday’s Sprint Cup race is the weather looks drier than at any point during the weekend. A few passing showers are possible but they are not expected to be numerous. Cloudy, cool and windy conditions are expected but I think some racing is possible Sunday afternoon. Odds of seeing racing and getting an official race is around 60 percent. Odds of going the full distance on Sunday is still about 45 to 55 percent thanks to the threat of a few possible showers.
COULD THEY RACE ON MONDAY?
I think the likelihood of a Monday race is looking less and less in my opinion. I’d say the odds of NASCAR being forced to race Monday is now around 30 percent or less.
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Conditions in Dover, Del.: Click here for Current Weather Conditions | Look at Doppler Radar | Mobile Friendly Site |Mobile Radar
SATURDAY:
11 a.m. ET
Sprint Cup Series practice – Rain showers, windy – temp: 61
12:30 p.m. ET
Sprint Cup Series final practice – Possible shower and windy – temp: 62
3:30 p.m. ET
Xfinity Race – Possible shower and windy – temp: 60
SUNDAY:
1:30 p.m. ET
Sprint Cup Pre-race – Cloudy, windy, with a chance of a shower – temp: 66
2:30 p.m. ET
Sprint Cup Race – Cloudy, windy, with a chance of a shower – temp: 66
3:30 p.m. ET
Sprint Cup Race – Cloudy, windy, with a chance of a shower – temp: 66
4:30 p.m. ET
Sprint Cup Race – Cloudy, windy, with a chance of a shower – temp: 65
5:30 p.m. ET
Sprint Cup Race – Cloudy, windy, with a chance of a shower – temp: 65
Sunset at Dover: 6:41 p.m. EDT
