In NASCAR, the most feared opponent is not who you think it is. It isn’t the driver trying to slam the other to a wall, but the clouds! Since the year 2000, more than 33 races have been shortened, frustrating everyone involved. This weekend, that show how hands over Talladega Superspeedway, A track where the stakes are high but options rather few. With  no massive light, and a 2.66 mile surface that takes hours to dry, and looking at the forecast it seems like NASCAR is going to be in deep waters! 

According to the weather forecast as of Wednesday, there is a 67% chance of rain on Saturday, when the O’Reilly race is scheduled. On Friday, there is a chance of thunderstorms after midnight. On Saturday too, the period between morning and afternoon can witness thunderstorms. Luckily, for Sunday, there is a 24% chance of rain, which might seem better, but don’t take a sigh of relief just yet.

Even though the chances of rain are low on Sunday, it could very well turn out to be similar weather to Saturday, when rain is more or less expected throughout the day and into the evening. So until the rain chances turn to 0%, the situation wouldn’t necessarily be resolved. But if it does rain on either Saturday or Sunday, NASCAR may probably not have a lot of options.

This is also where NASCAR’s official rulebook comes to play. A race is considered “official” once it reaches the end of stage 2 or the halfway point, whatever comes first. Now NASCAR officials have adjusted the stage lengths, which the sanctioning body announced on Monday afternoon. So with that updated stage structure for Talladega that halfway mark now sits around Lap 94, meaning if rain arrives after that point and the race can’t resume, the leader at the time could be declared the winner. 

Also, in situations like this, with dynamic weather and the chances of rain rising or falling, NASCAR employs a ’24 hours notice’. This is essentially when the sanctioning body choses to deal with a situation like potential rain by moving the race timings up or down, or in some cases, a full day ahead or back.

But even if NASCAR did that at Talladega in case it rained, they’d have to do it very carefully. Talladega Superspeedway, while one of the world’s greatest racetracks, is still not very modern as a racing facility. The track doesn’t have lights. So if the racing went beyond 7:19 p.m. local time, which is when the sunset is projected, there simply wouldn’t be any racing possible irrespective of the sky or the state of the track.

And as for the state of the track if it does rain, it would take a long time for the track to be dried considering the sheer scale of it. The track at Talladega is 2.66 miles long and takes over two hours to dry after the rain stops.

Then there’s the schedule of Saturday, the day when there is a 67% chance of rain. Cup qualifying, ARCA race, and the O’Reilly race are all on Saturday. Therefore, moving the Cup race up on Sunday would be a difficult thing to do unless one of the two already scheduled races move away to make up space.

So what would NASCAR do in such a situation?

NASCAR’s last resort if it rains on Saturday and Sunday

In 2024, because of two days of non-stop raining, NASCAR was forced to push the Daytona 500 to Monday. In fact, the Xfinity Series race was also pushed to Monday.

It’s worth mentioning that while rain has turned out to be a factor at Daytona 500, shortening it on four occasions (1965, 1966, 2003, 2009), the first time it forced NASCAR to postpone the race to Monday was in 2012. The same happened in 2020. Even this season, NASCAR was forced to push the Clash at Bowman Gray to Monday because of snow.

The same could potentially happen for Talladega this weekend, and it wouldn’t be unprecedented. In 2021, the YellaWood 500 was postponed for a Monday because of persistent rain. The same was also the case in 2020.

But the question is, would the same be the case this year as well? Let’s cross our fingers and hope that isn’t the case so fans can enjoy a good day of superspeedway racing under a clear sky on a Sunday, the way it is meant to be.