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NASCAR’s mortal enemy is mother nature. While we have made strides in combatting the weather with the air titans, jet dryers, and the introduction of the wet weather package for smaller ovals and road courses, the majority of the schedule is still impacted by the weather.
With yet another wet weekend at Charlotte that will break a record for most national series miles ran in a day, the possibility of a weather shortened event is very real. Lets take a look back at some drivers who got their first Cup Series wins with assistance from mother nature.
The 2X Cup series champion would earn his first win during his rookie season at Joe Gibbs at a rain shortened event at New Hampshire.
The race was scheduled for 301 laps, but was ended prematurely at lap 273 due to inclement weather. This would be the first of 32 wins for Logano.
Bubba Wallace is certainly a polarizing driver in the Cup Series. Wallace has won 2 races, and his first would come in his first season with 23XI racing at Talladega.
This would be the shortest Talladega race in history, only making it 117 of the scheduled 188 laps. Bubba would be the first non playoff driver to win during the playoffs since the inception of the new system in 2014.
Justin Haley would shock the NASCAR world with his upset win in 2019 at the Coke Zero 400. This is Haley’s only Cup series win to date.
The race would be scheduled for 160 laps, however rain would cut the race short after 127 laps. This is still the only win for Spire Motorsports in the Cup series.
Another rookie to take advantage of mother nature to get their first win in their first season. Buescher’s win is slightly different than the others, rain wouldn’t cut his race short, but rather fog.
The race was already rescheduled due to rain, and due to heavy fog impeding the visibility on the track, it would be called official after 138 of the scheduled 160 laps.
New Hampshire, also known as Loudon, has brought 2 drivers their first Cup series wins due to rain. 2002 Rookie of the Year Ryan Newman would also benefit from the Northeastern weather.
The race would only make it to lap 207 of the scheduled 300 laps, and Newman would win in his rookie season thanks to mother nature.
The weather hasn’t been kind to us this Memorial Day weekend, postponing both the Xfinity race and the Cup race. With rain in the area, could we add to this list after the action today?
While it is always cool to see a first time winner, I think we all prefer to see the race go the distance. Do you think we see another first time winner visit victory lane due to mother nature?
