NASCAR makes minor schedule change due to weather

The starting time for Saturday afternoon’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway has been slightly moved up.

Just as it has in quite a few recent NASCAR race weekends, weather had been a major question mark heading into this race weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

The weather has held out quite nicely so far and the weather forecast for the rest of the day at the four-turn, 1.058-mile (1.703-kilometer) Loudon, New Hampshire oval does not look terrible.

However, NASCAR has made the proactive decision to take advantage of the current dry window and move up the start time of Saturday afternoon’s Xfinity Series race. The 200-lap Ambetter Health 200 had been scheduled to go green at 3:19 p.m. ET, but it is now set to get underway at 3:01 p.m. ET, 18 minutes earlier than initially planned.

Kaulig Racing’s Chandler Smith is set to start Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race from the pole position.

FanDuel Sportsbook, which is currently offering fans an instant $200 just for signing up and placing a $20 bet, lists JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier as the +330 favorite to win the race.

Smith is listed as the third favorite at +500, with Joe Gibbs Racing’s John Hunter Nemechek, who won last weekend’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, listed as the second favorite at +380.

Sunday’s weather forecast all but guarantees another weekend schedule change, which would mark four consecutive weekends of some sort of change to the Cup Series schedule. There is currently a 100% chance of thunderstorms in Loudon during the Crayon 301, according to The Weather Channel.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell, the +600 favorite to win that 301-lap event, took the pole position on Saturday afternoon.

The Ambetter Health 200 is set to be broadcast live on USA Network from New Hampshire Motor Speedway beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET this afternoon. Begin a free trial of FuboTV now and don’t miss it!