The NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro is grappling with a sketchy weather forecast. The event dealt with this in 2023, but will we see NASCAR make the same adjustments in 2024? Here is what happens if Mother Nature strikes during the All-Star Race.
This weekend, the Cup Series and Craftsman Truck Series vehicles will be equipped with short-track wet weather equipment. This includes rain tires and a defogger, but no windshield wipers or mud flaps. As a result, the equipment cannot be used in the rain, but rather, on a damp and drying race track.
The repave at North Wilkesboro also plays a role. A new asphalt surface is smooth, meaning any rainwater sits nicely on top of the asphalt, allowing track drying equipment to get the water out of the way quickly. Combine that with NWB being only a 0.625-mile track, and the track should take well under an hour to be ready for wet weather tires.
By contrast, an old surface takes longer to dry due to the tiny cracks that hold water after a rainstorm. This can cause “Wheepers” to form, where water comes up and forms small puddles on the surface. The 2016 fall race at Texas Motor Speedway saw an hours-long run delay due to this problem, which led to the track being repaved for 2017.
NASCAR has a decent amount of buffer built into the weekend schedule, particularly on Saturday and Sunday. This could come in handy with the weather being as treacherous as it is.
Friday
As of this writing, the most likely rain chance is after 8 PM on this night, and, thankfully, NASCAR has all on-track activity scheduled to end before 8 PM. The problem is that there is still a chance of rain during the window NASCAR has on-track activity scheduled for, between 3:00 and 7:30 PM.
The priority of the night is getting All-Star Qualifying in. If practice is washed out, that’s not a huge deal, particularly for the Trucks since they have qualifying the next morning. The goal for NASCAR is probably to move the schedule along quickly before the rain comes later in the day; maybe even moving things up a tad isn’t impossible.
Saturday
Saturday is the hairiest day of the week. The forecast calls for a 70% or greater chance of rain throughout the day, dropping to about 50% after sunset. Now, if NASCAR gets a small window, they could try to run both the Truck Series race and Cup Series heat races with wet weather tires, just like they did with the Heat Races in 2023.
The question is whether NASCAR prioritizes the Truck Series or Cup Series Heat Races. Either way, we could see one, the other, or both pushed back to later on Saturday night, but, NASCAR probably doesn’t want to race much later than midnight ET. Thankfully, Sunday looks like a good day if a rain buffer is needed.
Sunday
Currently, there is a chance of rain all day on Sunday, but it’s under 50%. The All-Star Open doesn’t start until 5:30 PM ET, so NASCAR has all morning and early afternoon for postponed activity. The rain chances drop by the time the All-Star Race is scheduled to start, so, as of right now, the All-Star Race should happen on its scheduled date at its scheduled time.
It’s possible NASCAR will push the Truck Series race, the Heat Races, or both to Sunday morning or early afternoon, depending on the window. However, they do need the weather to cooperate. If all else fails, the Truck Series race can take place on Monday, which wouldn’t be a big deal for most teams as the track is only about 80 miles from the sport’s hub of Charlotte, North Carolina.
The weather could put a damper on things at North Wilkesboro Speedway. However, it looks like NASCAR could have a window to get the most important activity of the weekend in.
