Dancing With Idalia: Weather Forecast for Darlington NASCAR Weekend

DARLINGTON, SC - MAY 12: Crew members watch over the race cars on pit road during heavy rain, prior to the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Dodge Avenger 500 on May 12, 2007 at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. (Photo by Marc Serota/Getty Images)

Paige Martin

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Hurricane Idalia made its landfall on the Florida coast early Thursday morning before dancing its way up to none other than the Carolina coast, where NASCAR happens to be racing this weekend. Darlington International Raceway sits less than 2 hours from the South Carolina coast and has truly felt the impacts of Idalia. Bob Pockrass reports that the track received 6-8 inches of rain over the course of two days, but track officials reported Thursday morning that the Lady in Black handled it well and is ready to see NASCAR arrive this weekend.

Not much change in forecast for Darlington (20 miles NW of Florence). 6-8 inches of rain. Storm should be through area by mid-morning Thursday. With no track activity until Saturday, should be good to race unless infrastructure or public safety issue arises. pic.twitter.com/tB1KaihlIt
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) August 30, 2023

Weekend Weather Forecast via National Weather Service

Saturday: Xfinity Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 (3:30 pm ET)

Forecast: Mostly Sunny
Temperature: Highs around 80 for the start of the race tampering off to the upper 70s by race end.
Rain: 0%
Wind: 5-9 mph Northeast winds with the potential for 15mph gusts

Sunday: Cup Cook Out Southern 500 (6:00 pm ET)

Forecast: Clear
Temperature: Starting the race with highs around 80 but cooling off to the low 70s by the time the checkered flag waves
Rain: 0%
Wind: A light breeze of around 5 mph
Sunset: Approximately 8 pm, but don’t worry lights weren’t too tough for Darlington to obtain.

Not NASCAR’s First Dance with Hurricanes at Darlington

This is not the first time NASCAR or Darlington has danced with hurricanes before race weekend. In 2016 Hurricane Hermine came in, following a similar path as Idalia, and postponed all Friday activities including Practice and Qualifying. It was Martin Truex Jr who claimed the checkered flag that weekend – can he lock himself into the next round this weekend by repeating his post-hurricane dominance?