Back in mid-June, NASCAR opted to move up the start time of the Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway by two hours due to the increasing threat of rain throughout the late afternoon and early evening hours, and the move paid off, as the race was run without disruption.
It marked the second time this year NASCAR had made such a change; the season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway was moved up by an hour for the same reason, and that decision also paid off.
A similar decision has been made ahead of this Sunday afternoon's Dollar Tree 301 at New Hampshire, which had been scheduled to go green at 3:10 p.m. ET.
The green flag for this 301-lap race around the four-turn, 1.058-mile (1.703-kilometer) Loudon, New Hampshire oval is now set to fly at 2:10 p.m. ET, with NASCAR making the proactive decision to move the start time up by an hour due to the chance for bad weather later in the day.
New Hampshire NASCAR Cup schedule changed amid weather forecast
According to AccuWeather, there is an 88% chance of "a couple of showers and a thunderstorm", and "gusty winds and small hail can accompany any downpour".
Thunderstorms are predicted between around 12:00 p.m. ET and 1:00 p.m. ET, with returns at around 3:00 p.m. ET and 5:00 p.m. ET.
While the schedule change may not end up making a difference, it does give NASCAR an extra hour of flexibility at a race track that does not have lights, meaning the race can only go so late in the day before it would have to be suspended or postponed until Monday.
Plus, we've all seen this year on multiple occasions that weather forecasts can have a tendency to be completely inaccurate. Perhaps that's intentional, so that if it doesn't rain, you won't be upset, but if it does, you can't say they didn't warn you.
Anyway...
This, of course, will do more to empower the fans who for years have been calling for NASCAR to bring back noon start times. One could even argue that they should have gone for added flexibility by moving the New Hampshire green flag time up by two hours instead of one, just like they did at the "Tricky Triangle".
Tune in to USA Network at 2:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, August 23 for live coverage of the Dollar Tree 301 from the "Magic Mile". Or perhaps you should tune in to Fox at 1:00 p.m. ET for the historic IndyCar race in Washington, D.C., especially if it rains in Loudon, instead; start a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss that one either. We hope you've got your second screens handy for the weekend.
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