NASCAR at Richmond 2014 weather forecast: Will rain impact the chase

There is a lot at stake this weekend at Richmond International Raceway as the NASCAR Nationwide series races tonight and the Sprint Cup series races Saturday night. The Sprint Cup on Saturday night is the most imporant as it is the end of the Sprint Cup regular season and determines who’s in and who’s out of the Chase for the Sprint Cup. The last thing anyone wants to see is Mother Nature getting involved and having a say in the outcome of the race.

Weather forecast for Friday’s on track action at Richmond International Raceway looks to remain mostly dry. The skies will range from partly to mostly cloudy and temperatures will warm into the low 90s. While it will be mostly dry there is a chance for a few isolated showers and storms in the afternoon and evening. I give the odds of racing tonight to be around 75 to 80 percent. Just remember it only takes one lone storm to cause a long night of waiting.

Saturday night’s weather forecast is a bit more challenging as we figure out the arrival and timing of an approaching cold front. Early forecasts had the front arriving and passing over Richmond Saturday evening and Saturday night during the Sprint Cup race.

Now, the newest information as of Friday morning has delayed the fronts arrival and doesn’t bring the rain and storms over Richond until after midnight. If the forecast trend of slowing the cold front continues, our odds of getting a complete race in for the Sprint Cup series increases.

Until I see two consistent forecasts that show the front slowing and not arriving until later I am going to keep the racing odds for Saturday night’s Sprint Cup race near 75 percent. Scattered showers and storms are possible out ahead of the approaching front during the late afternoon and early evening Saturday, but it will all come down to the timing of rain and storms associated with the approaching cold front.