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It was an all-too familiar sight for NASCAR fans on Sunday. Rain postponed the final 125 laps of the Firekeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway to Monday at noon. For those who may have lost track of all of the weather delays NASCAR has had this year, we do not blame you, and Jonathan Field went through every weekend and found out that 17 of 25 weekends have had weather issues this year.
That’s a surprising statistic, but we at the Daily Downforce want to go a bit deeper into these delays. Well, let’s take a trip down the not so fun side of memory lane to look at every Cup Series weather issue this season. It’s happened far too often.
Surprisingly enough, the Cup Series did not have any weather-related delays or postponements in races until May rolled around. The Dover race was called very quickly by NASCAR primarily because of the bad forecast.
This was the third Dover postponement in four seasons, which was tough for many to swallow. Some even suggested that NASCAR should change the Dover date due to the forecast for that time of year, especially considering Dover only having one date.
While the race itself was unaffected by weather, the Heat Races at North Wilkesboro were contested with wet-weather tires. It was the first time in Cup Series history that they ran wet-weather tires on an oval track.
The move was a resounding success as it allowed the race to be run in a far more timely manner than in previous years on short ovals. The Truck Series also ran on a drying race track at Martinsville earlier in the season.
In a tough twist of fate for NASCAR, the Cup Series second-biggest race of the year, the Coca-Cola 600, was postponed to Monday due to weather. Not only that, but the Xfinity race was also postponed to Monday due to weather. Rain continued to pepper the speedway, pushing the Xfinity Series race further back to after the Coca-Cola 600.
Even during the Coca-Cola 600, there was a rain delay in the middle of the race. Thankfully, both races were eventually run to their scheduled distance. Ryan Blaney won the “600”, and it was the end to a long losing streak.
Rain was not the issue at Gateway, and neither was the heat. However, the two came together around the track to form lightning. One of the most annoying things in modern NASCAR then occurred, a lightning delay.
It took more than two hours for the surrounding lightning to pass through the area, and eventually allow the race to be run again. Not a drop of rain hit the race track, thankfully, so there was not much more waiting after the lightning hold was lifted. The lightning delay did allow Michael Waltrip to retrieve his lost phone, however.
The Chicago Street Race weekend was a disaster from a weather standpoint. Lightning delayed and eventually postponed the Xfinity Series race to Sunday, but Sunday was even worse. Torrential rain pelted Chicago all morning, and did not stop fully until about 5 PM local time.
The rain not only forced NASCAR to call the Xfinity Race before the halfway mark, but it caused a delay in the Cup Series race. Thankfully, rain tires allowed the Cup Series race to be run, albeit shortened by 25 laps due to darkness. The weather also cancelled three of the four concerts that were scheduled for that weekend.
The following week at Atlanta, rain once again played havoc on the race. This time, it was approaching the track as the race went on, and it became a race to halfway. The result was one of the most entertaining races of the Cup Series season.
The rains came, and the race ended after 185 laps. William Byron took home the win, and fans seemingly enjoyed the show even if the rain did end it early. It even opened up the argument for some fans that maybe NASCAR should look at shortening NASCAR races to create more urgency.
Just like the Dover race earlier on this list, New Hampshire was called well before the scheduled start time. A bad forecast and flooding in the New England are forced NASCAR to postpone the race to Monday. Some thought the call was made a bit too early with the rain letting up later.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. gave his thought on his podcast, “The Dale Jr Download”, and he gave a hilarious rant. With that being said, Earnhardt Jr. understood why NASCAR called it when they did. It was primarily for the sake of fans getting to the track along with the weather.
During the week, the forecast called for a slight chance of rain on Sunday. Well, Michigan got all of the 30% chance of rain that was forecasted during the week. Rain not only delayed the start of the race, but it also forced NASCAR to halt the race on Sunday and push the final 125 laps to Monday.
It was not a monsoon, but enough of a rainstorm to keep the race from happening. It was the eighth Cup Series event hampered by weather in some way, with it being the fifth postponed to Monday. It was the first race, however, to be stopped partway through.
Hopefully NASCAR can find some better luck with weather in the coming weeks. Hopefully NASCAR can race on Monday in Michigan without any issues.
