Normally, NASCAR baulks at the first sign of rain, and who can really blame them? After all, safety is a top priority in a sport as fast-paced as NASCAR. However, the sport decided to take a risk, and a few weeks ago, drivers raced on a wet oval. The race in question was the Dollar Tree 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

NASCAR was still being cautious, and the race started on wet-weather tires. Sometime later, all cars were mandatorily told to change to slick tires for the rest of the race. Some people in the NASCAR community felt that the teams should have had the freedom to choose when to pit. Needless to say, NASCAR eventually agreed and has now come out with a new missive. Reacting to the news, 23XI Racing spotter Freddie Kraft has some comments.

“The biggest thing for me has always been safety,” he told Dirty Mo Media. “I want to make sure that these guys on pit road are safe. So now if we’re making green flag pit stops, you should have less cars on pit road at once, vs a yellow flag stop. Once you see one guy come in and put dry tires on and the track’s drying out, it’s not going to be long before you see everybody on pit road.”

“I don’t know, I’ll see how it goes,” he added in the X clip. “It’s a giant step in the right direction. Glad to see it, as everything it’s going to be a work in progress. Hopefully everybody stays safe.”

There is an inherent danger to racing in the rain, especially on an oval layout. So the first NASCAR race in wet conditions was at the Circuit of the Americas in 2021. A road course was probably the safest bet, because drivers will be braking a lot more often compared to an oval.

Then NASCAR got bolder, and in 2023 at the Martinsville Speedway, the Truck Series raced in the wet. Right after that, NASCAR’s Cup Series made its own bit of history. The 2023 All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro became the first Cup event to run on wet-weather oval tires. That being said, this was an exhibition race.

A year later at Richmond, the Cup Series gave it a shot, and now Loudon has joined the party.

In the O’Reilly’s Series race at Gateway, there was a pile-up in the pit lane. Fortunately, nobody got hurt, but it did result in a red flag while the carnage sorted itself out.

Kraft also noted that handing control back to the teams opens up the scope for strategy. According to him, there might be occasions where teams opt to gamble on slicks earlier than others. It is also worth noting that on short tracks, drivers tend to lose laps while on pit road.

To combat that, other drivers might opt to stay out on the wet tires. The idea is to hope that a caution comes out and provide a free pit stop compared to a rival who pitted earlier.

This is why Kraft is glad that NASCAR is willing to hand things back in the teams’ hands. Led by Steve O’Donnell, the higher-ups saw that people wanted the change. Now Freddie Kraft will be eager to see how things work out, even if he prefers a dry race.

23XI Racing is now in recovery mode for the Chase

When the 2026 season began, Tyler Reddick was in excellent form, rocketing to an early championship lead.

Unfortunately, he has since started to slip up and eventually lost the lead to his boss, Denny Hamlin. It got worse from then on out, as Reddick dropped further and further, but luckily did enough to make the Chase.

However, with two races done and dusted, he sits 5th in the standings. Bristol has not exactly been the kindest to Reddick, but he will be eager to claw back his advantage. That said, Denny Hamlin has been doing his utmost to hang onto the championship lead by his fingernails.