NASCAR at New Hampshire weather updates: Heavy rain, flood watch push Crayon 301 to Monday

By | July 17, 2023
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Where NASCAR goes, rain follows.

That’s certainly how it has seemed in the 2023 Cup Series season. Last week’s race in Atlanta was called early due to a storm that forced a red flag 20 minutes into the final stage. The weekend prior saw the street race in Chicago delayed by more than an hour due to rain and the Xfinity race called off three laps before the halfway point. And the Cup Series race before that in Nashville was moved up early to avoid rain.

Now the drivers in New Hampshire will have to wait once more. The Crayon 301, initially slated for a 2:30 p.m. ET start time on Sunday, was pushed back as a result of wet and wild conditions. It will now be held on Monday at noon ET.

MORE: NASCAR schedule for every Cup Series race in 2023

Heavy rain always appeared to be a major threat at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon. Ultimately, storms offered little in the way of it respite Sunday afternoon. Now, NASCAR hits the work week for the second time this year.

Here’s the latest on the weather in Loudon:

NASCAR at New Hampshire weather updates

(All times Eastern)

Monday, July 17

7:20 a.m.: The hourly weather forecast the New Hampshire Motor Speedway (via The Weather Channel) calls for clear skies and zero chance of rain. Let’s go racing.

Sunday, July 16

11:15 a.m.: Cup Series will commence at noon ET on Monday. Things are expected to clear out exponentially over the 24 hours, so should be an entirely new race surface come the start of tomorrow’s festivities.

11:00 a.m.: There we have it; NASCAR will run its Cup Series race on Monday after Sunday’s downpour refused to compromise.

Saturday, July 15

5:50 p.m.: NASCAR was able to get in practice and qualifying on Saturday before any storms could threaten it, and it was able to finish the Xfinity Series race before any rain arrived, even if things looked troublesome at certain points.

But the real concern is for the Crayon 301. The National Weather Service lists a 100 percent chance of precipitation during the day Sunday with a possible thunderstorm. There is a possibility of 1 to 2 inches of rainfall, and because of that, there is a flood watch in effect for the area.

And the rain isn’t expected to go away for some time. The chance of precipitation is not expected to dip below 50 percent until 1 a.m. Monday. New Hampshire Motor Speedway doesn’t have lights, so waiting to race at night is not an option for NASCAR.

That puts racing Sunday in serious jeopardy; however, if the race needs to be pushed back a day, the forecast for Monday is clear skies and less than a 10 percent chance of rain.

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