from a NASCAR Fan’s View
The big question from the Cup Series this weekend is, will it rain or will it not? Inclement weather couldn’t come at a more dramatic time in the playoffs since this is the cutoff race for the round of twelve. There are at least four of the twelve drivers that need to win if they want to stay in the playoffs and adding rain to the mix should make for a very interesting afternoon of racing at the Roval in Charlotte.
I realize the implications of rain make the situation a bit more complicated than it normally would but, racing in the rain is a decision NASCAR made several years ago. If memory serves me correctly, they haven’t had to actually do that yet and most of the drivers are concerned about their lack of experience at racing in the rain. In fact, many have expressed that they haven’t raced in the rain ever. That means they will have a large learning curve if the rains do come down, at least until NASCAR thinks it is too dangerous to continue racing because of safety concerns…
As a former small-time stock car racer, I realize there aren’t too many of you that care to hear about my experiences of rain at the track but, I will share a few things anyway. Most of the time the rain was intermittent or light and even when the track was too wet to continue, often we could dry it by all of the classes getting out and driving around the track many times to dry it out. Of course, we were small-time and didn’t have the same means as NASCAR to dry it out but it could be done and the racing continue.
If I can take another moment to express my experience, those were some of the most fun times I can remember from my old racing days. It was unbelievable how slippery the track got with just a little bit of drizzle coming down. Sometimes it would rain really hard for about fifteen or twenty minutes or so and they would clear the track, depending on the time, and wait it out. Those were my only times of driving on a track that drove like the old dirt tracks I grew up around even though it was asphalt. We weren’t actually going fast at those times but we could put our cars in a power slide almost all the way around the track just like driving on dirt. I’m telling you; it may not have been racing for a win but it sure was fun. It seemed it also made us better at handling our cars if some fluid was dumped on the track and that was a plus.
Now, that had nothing to do with what’s going on at the Roval this weekend but I threw it in for free just because I remember those times very vividly and I had a lot of fun along with many of the other people I raced with…
Because of the possible inclement weather at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the door could be opened for someone other than the favorites to show up in Victory Lane at the end of the day. It could also open the door for one of those below the cut line and needing to win to stay in, to make it into the next round. That doesn’t mean the favorites won’t be there fighting it out for the victory, it just opens the door to a whole lot more possibilities.
These days, there are quite a few good road course racers in NASCAR. The days of bringing in road course ringers are long over and, though there may be some that don’t like road courses, most of the drivers do at least make a good showing. I’m not saying all of them do but most of them seem to be able to handle the road courses competitively, whether or not they are running for the win.
The Roval is the breaking point for some and can be one of the most important races of the season for those in the top twelve going in to this one. IF one of those in the ninth to twelfth positions pulls off a win, it can totally wreck someone else’s chances of moving on. If may even be one of the drivers close to the cut line that ends up being knocked out of the playoffs. That’s what will likely make this race so dramatic. The possibilities are, or at least could be, an overwhelming disappointment for someone and a complete turnaround for another.
As a fan, I think it is pretty obvious that emotions will be high and tempers may not flare up immediately but, probably will at sometime during the race. The drama will only increase as the laps wind down and won’t let up until this one is done.
So… will it rain or won’t it? I don’t know but, I reckon we’re fixing to find out when the green flag drops and what ever is going to happen, happens…
See ya next time…
All views expressed are strictly the opinion of the writer
© October 10, 2020 – all rights reserved
Rusty Norman, Nascarfansview.com and Justafansview.com
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