NASCAR at Talladega adds to long list of rain-affected races

The postponement of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway was the latest of many changes made to this year’s schedule due to rain.

If it seems like a weekly thing, that’s because it pretty much is. Yet again, rain during a NASCAR race weekend caused a change in plans, this time at Talladega Superspeedway.

We have only just hit the halfway mark of the regular season, and we have only just passed the one-third mark of the entire 2020 campaign. Yet the 13th race of the season became the seventh of the year to be impacted in some way due to bad weather.

The season opener at Daytona International Speedway had to be suspended due to rain. It was started on Sunday, February 16 and finished on Monday, February 17.

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The following Saturday, February 22, the qualifying session for the race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was rained out, and the Xfinity Series race, which was scheduled to take place later that afternoon, was postponed to immediately after the Cup Series race the following evening.

Fortunately, the following race weekend at Auto Club Speedway was smooth sailing. So was the next weekend at Phoenix Raceway, before the coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc on the entire season and sent the sport into a totally unexpected 10-week hiatus that lasted until Sunday, May 17 when the series made a previously non-scheduled trip to Darlington Raceway.

That race, too, went out without a hitch, providing a much needed boost not only to NASCAR but to the entire world of sports after so many weeks passed with no live action.

But the bad weather bug returned at the same venue just a few days later.

The second Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway was scheduled to take place on Wednesday, May 20 to conclude the race week at the track. While it did take place that evening, it did not conclude the race week, as the Xfinity Series race had been postponed from Tuesday, May 19 to Thursday, May 21 due to rain, and the Cup Series race still had to be altered.

Its start time was initially moved up to combat the threat of rain. That move proved to be useless, as the race ended up being delayed anyway — yes, delayed even relative to its initially scheduled start time.

Then it was forced to end several laps early under a red flag due to more rain.

Those last two words — “more rain” — would define the trip to Charlotte Motor Speedway as well. The Cup Series race at the track on Sunday, May 24 got started but was then stopped due to rain, and the checkered flag did not fly until the wee hours of Monday, May 25 because of it.

The second Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway was scheduled to take place on Wednesday, May 27 to conclude the race week at the track. While it did conclude the race week at the track, it did not do so on that evening. It was bumped back to Thursday, May 28 due to rain, and it was also halted due to rain after it got underway. Fortunately, it concluded that evening.

Bristol Motor Speedway saw no rain the following weekend, but again, the schedule had to be changed, this time because of the delay leaving Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The Cup Series race at the track was scheduled to take place on Sunday, May 31 to conclude the race weekend. While it did take place as planned, and without any delays, it did not conclude the race weekend, as the Xfinity Series race had to be moved from Saturday, May 30 to Monday, June 1 because of the late start caused by the postponement of the second Charlotte Motor Speedway Cup Series race.

The following weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway also saw no rain, and the Cup Series race went on as scheduled on Sunday, June 7. Despite a dire forecast, the same was the case for Martinsville Speedway that week, as the Cup Series race took place as planned on Wednesday, June 10.

But that race remains the most recent Cup Series race not to be affected by bad weather. The race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, June 14 got off to a late start and was then stalled twice due to rain and lightning.

Rain and lightning again entered the mix at Talladega Superspeedway. Rain delayed the start of the race on Sunday, June 21, and lightning remained in the area after it stopped. But during the ongoing track-drying efforts, more rain came down, and with Talladega Superspeedway not being equipped with lights, NASCAR was forced to postpone the race to Monday, June 22.

NASCAR very well could have attempted to get the race in since Cup Series races are deemed official after the first two stages or the halfway mark, whichever comes first. But they would not have gotten it underway solely for that purpose, given that they may have had to end it simply because there would not have been enough light.

The race got underway on Monday, and it was red-flagged before the end of the first stage due to — you guessed it — rain. Fortunately, the race ended up being run in its entirety that evening before the sun set.

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NASCAR is now set to travel to Pocono Raceway for a packed weekend, which includes the first Cup Series doubleheader in the sport’s history on Saturday, June 27 and Sunday, June 28. The first race, the Pocono Organics 325, is set to be broadcast live on Fox beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET while the second race, the Pocono 350, is set to be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1 beginning at 4:00 p.m. ET.

According to The Weather Channel, there is a 20% chance of rain during the day on Saturday and a 50% chance of rain during the day on Sunday. Like Talladega Superspeedway, Pocono Raceway does not have lights.

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