The forecast remains complicated as we go through the rest of the NASCAR race weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. Cold front to the north across the Ohio Valley will slowly sag south across the Tennessee Valley later in the day and overnight. This front along with a series of disturbances moving along the boundary will spark areas of showers and even a few thunderstorms this morning and in the afternoon. A rain shower or two and even a thunderstorm are possible during today’s Nationwide race. That could cause some delays, but I think we have enough dry time that we get today’s rain in. It will also be windy with possible gusts out of the southwest between 20 and 30 mph. High temperatures this afternoon will be in the mid 60s.
2013 NASCAR at Bristol Motor Speedway weather forecast: Some improvement
The NASCAR Weatherman, Meteorologist Brian Neudorff, sees some improvement in the rain forecast for Bristol Motor Speedway
While Sunday’s forecast is similar the location of the front is different. The cold front slides south of Bristol Motor Speedway Sunday morning into Sunday afternoon. We could see an increase in shower activity once the race starts around 1 p.m. We are still looking at areas of scattered rain showers. What this means is we are not tracking a wave of rain that moves in then moves out but showers that will form and possible move over the track. This could happen off and on through out the day. With overcast skies and cooler temperatures, drizzle and fog are also possible. While this sounds like a very pessimistic forecast, I still think there will be breaks where we could still see some racing.
Bristol is a short track so drying won’t take as long, could take 70 to 90 minutes to get to halfway and Bristol also has lights. From my experience NASCAR will do what it can and hold out as long as they can to make sure the race is run on Sunday. Also the weather forecast for Monday looks worse than Sunday.
WILL SUNDAY BE A WASHOUT? No I don’t think so. While delays and red flags are possible before and during the race Sunday, there should be enough stretch of dry for us to get an official race. When I say an “Official race” I mean a race that ends either at halfway or is raced to completion. My odds of a washout are 40 to 45 percent.
WILL WE RACE MONDAY? Since I don’t think we see a washout then no I don’t think we race Monday. Also the weather for Monday looks wetter than Sunday.
It’s going to be busy this weekend, and the forecast will need tweaking as we go through the weekend. If there are any changes I will keep you updated.
Conditions in Bristol, Tenn.:
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Race Schedule: All Times Eastern
SATURDAY:
9:00 a.m EDT
Sprint Cup Series practice – Cloudy, chance of showers & t’storm – temp: 50
10:35 a.m EDT
Nationwide Series qualifying – Cloudy, chance of showers & t’storm – temp: 53
12:00 p.m EDT
Sprint Cup Series final practice – Cloudy, chance of showers & t’storm – temp: 57
2:00 p.m EDT
Nationwide Series race – Cloudy, chance of showers & t’storm – temp: 62
SUNDAY:
11 a.m EDT
Sprint Cup pre-race – Cloudy, possible rain showers – temp: 50
12 p.m EDT
Sprint Cup pre-race – Cloudy, possible rain showers – temp: 53
1 p.m EDT
Sprint Cup race – Cloudy, possible rain showers – temp: 54
2 p.m EDT
Sprint Cup race – Cloudy, possible rain showers – temp: 56
3 p.m EDT
Sprint Cup race – Cloudy, possible rain showers – temp: 56
4 p.m EDT
Sprint Cup race – Cloudy, possible rain showers – temp: 53
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