Start of Pocono Race Delayed Due to Weather

What’s Happening?

As NASCAR on Prime’s coverage comes to a close, for the first time in this 5-race stretch we have a rain delay. Reported earlier in the morning by FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass, there was a wall of rain in the area. He and other media and NASCAR officials were optimistic, however, as the wall broke up as we got closer to race time. The threat of lightning ceased and track drying commenced just before the two o’clock hour struck. The forecast for the rest of the day was said to be scattered showers. RaceWeather on X reported that they (NASCAR) had until 8:38 PM (sunset) to get the race in.

Update:

As we approached the three o’clock hour, the sun popped out of the clouds at Pocono Raceway. With track drying showing progress, NASCAR updated the race’s start time to 4:30 PM ET.

Things to Note:

• Pocono Raceway is no stranger to weather-hindered races. Since first joining the NASCAR schedule, roughly 21% of the races have been impacted by weather in one way or another. 22% of that 21% suffered weather delays or postponements. Fortunately, though, only 5% of the 19 races run have been rain-shortened.
• In recent years, the weather at Pocono has been a little more favorable. The last weather-affected race held at Pocono was five years ago back in 2020. The last one prior to that was 2016. So, the statistics are on our side to get this race into today or tomorrow.
• In 2024, a topic that ran throughout the year was weather delays. Many of the scheduled races were either postponed or delayed but in 2025, the script has seemingly been flipped. Amazingly, this is only the second race of the year that has been outright delayed by weather. The other race was the Daytona 500. Last week in Mexico City, we got some substantial rain. But road courses use wet weather tires when appropriate, so it did not suffer a substantial delay.

What do you think about this? Do you think we’re going to get the race in today? Let us know your thoughts and concerns! And be sure to keep it here at DailyDownforce.com for updates as this story develops.