NASCAR Race day weather at Charlotte 2014: Rain still threatens the race

The forecast for tonight’s NASCAR Bank of America 500 Sprint Cup race at Charlotte Motor Speedway continues to be threaten by rain. The good news, most of the rain is expected in the late afternoon and early evening before exiting the area by around race time.

All week we have been watching the placement of a stalled cold front. As of noon Saturday, that front was located north and west of Charlotte Motor Speedway. This afternoon and evening this front will start to drift south towards Charlotte and Charlotte Motor Speedway being the spark for scattered areas of showers and storms.

Looking at the short range models, it appears the best chance for rain this afternoon and evening is between 2 p.m. EDT and 6 p.m. EDT. With just an isolated shower or storm possible after 6 p.m.

Very likely race fans could experience a rain shower and possible thunderstorm before the race so I’d recommend bringing the rain gear for all the pre-race activities. By 7:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. most of the activity should be to the east of the track.

CAN WE START ON TIME?
While I think a rain shower is possible sometime before the race it all depends on how late that shower occurs and how long it takes the Air Titans to dry the track. It is possible we could start on time but I’d also be prepared for possible delays due to drying.

WILL MOTHER NATURE ALLOW NASCAR TO GO THE FULL DISTANCE?
My odds for NASCAR being able to complete all 334 laps is still 75 percent. I am cautiously optimistic but from everything I have seen over the last couple of days I don’t see too many reasons why we can’t race and finish tonight. There may be possible delays due to the weather but if everything goes as expected we should be able to get the race in and complete.

WORST CASE SCENARIO?
While I am cautiously optimistic about a full race, the only thing that could cause problems would be if the front that is moving through stalls over or near the track and a storm slows and parks over the race track for an extended period of time. While I think the odds of this happening are low (around 25 percent) it is a possibility.