Showers and thunderstorms remain in the weather forecast for Saturday night’s Spongebob Squarepants 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Kansas Speedway. These particular weather forecasts are particularly challenging because you really don’t know when the weather will be a concern until it forms.
The above animation is from one forecast model showing areas of scattered showers and storms moving over the Kansas City area between 4 p.m. CDT to 11 p.m. CDT. While that doesn’t look very favorable for racing, we will have to wait and see where all the showers and storms form during the day Saturday. From all that I have seen, I still think there are opportunities we race Saturday night.
CAN NASCAR RACE SATURDAY NIGHT? My odds of racing remain between 50 to 60 percent for Saturday night. It all comes down to timing and what is on radar as we get closer to the start of the race.
ARE WE TALKING HALFWAY OR A COMPLETE RACE? This is a tough call because delays or stoppage due to weather are possible. When dealing with areas and clusters of storms and showers, it’s not always the rain you see on radar you have to worry about but the rain you don’t. If we can start and get a good window for racing then we should get to halfway. Anything past that, in my opinion, is bonus.
SEVERE WEATHER CONCERN – The Storm Prediction Center in Oklahoma has modified the risk of severe weather near Kansas Speedway. While the track is no long in the “slight” risk for severe storms, it is still very close. Any storms that for Saturday night could produce strong damaging winds, large hail (1 inch or larger) and isolated tornadoes. Not to mention all storms, whether severe or not, have lightning. Fans going to the race should be mindful of changing weather conditions. Fans can use their scanners as weather radios to get the latest information from the National Weather Service.
I am going to stick with my forecast and say we can get racing in Saturday night and at least make it an official race. I am not going to even post a Sunday weather forecast at this time.
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Conditions in Kansas City, KS: Click here for Current Weather Conditions | Look at Doppler Radar | Mobile Friendly Site | Mobile Radar
SATURDAY:
6:30 p.m. ET
Sprint Cup pre-race – Chance of showers and storms – temp: 76
7:30 p.m. ET
Sprint Cup race – Chance of showers and storms – temp: 74
8:30 p.m. ET
Sprint Cup race – Chance of showers and storms – temp: 74
9:30 p.m. ET
Sprint Cup race – Chance of showers and storms – temp: 73
10:30 p.m. ET
Sprint Cup race – Chance of showers and storms – temp: 72
11:30 p.m. ET
Sprint Cup race – Chance of showers and storms – temp: 71
