NASCAR’s Memorial Day tradition faces a wet weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The Coca-Cola 600 forecast warns of heavy rain and thunderstorms that could derail the 600-mile marathon.

On Friday, light rain can occur with thunderstorms in the evening. With a temperature of around 75 degrees Fahrenheit, there is a 70 percent chance of rain and 5-10 miles per hour wind speed during the daytime.

Things to change at night as the temperature is expected to be below, and there is a 100 percent chance of rain.

After Friday's highly possible rain, there is a chance of thunderstorms on Saturday morning. It's an 83 percent chance of rain in the day and 24 percent in the night.

The temperature will go down at night, and the sky will be cloudy. Wind to remain at 5-10 miles an hour, and humidity from 90 percent to 96 percent from day to night. However, the main concern comes on Sunday.

With a 79-degree temperature, Sunday will be cloudy. Thunderstorms will follow in the evening. While there's just a 24 percent chance of rain in the day, by night that number increases to 47.

All in all, there are chances for the race to get delayed or jeopardized due to rain, something that has happened in the past years as well. As a result, NASCAR has kept a caution time in hand, as track drying takes 1-2 hours.

However, if the race cannot take place because of rain, the governing body will push it to Monday, something that has taken place earlier as well.

When the Coca-Cola 600 was jeopardized due to rain

In four recent instances, the Coca-Cola 600 was jeopardized. From 1997 to 2009, and most recently in 2023 and 2024. In 1997, the rain came midway through the race, and after three and a half hours of delay, the race was shortened to 333 laps, and Jeff Gordon became the winner.

In 2009, a constant downpour forced the event to be shifted to Monday from Sunday. And after 227 laps of running, David Reutimann won the race.

The same situation emerged in 2023, when NASCAR shifted the race to Monday because of heavy rainfall.

In 2024, the rain started pouring midway through the race, and as a result, the governing body had to call off the race after 246 laps. With no further chance of restarting the race or shifting it to Monday, NASCAR shortened the race and Christopher Bell won the event.

Read more at the RFK Racing Digest!

Written by

Sabyasachi Biswas

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason