Weather in Central Indiana in mid-to-late July can be very warm. This weekend is no exception. If anything, it’s going to be very similar to the previous NASCAR weekend in Dover.
There is currently a Heat Advisory in effect for the Indianapolis for Friday. The forecast is for partly cloudy skies and hot temperatures. The forecast high is 92° with a chance for thunderstorms. The percentage differs depending on where you look. Current ranges are anywhere from 35-70%.
If it does rain, it will affect the activities at both tracks. Since Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park is shorter, the interruptions there wouldn’t be as long.
Saturday will be only slightly cooler. It will still be hot and humid with a high temperature around 90°. There is still a good chance of isolated thunderstorms.
Sunday appears to be similar to Saturday. It’ll still be very humid with a high around 89° with a chance of thunderstorms.
Regardless of the day, you would do well to bring rain gear to either track. Find some shade if you can to cool off and make sure to drink fluids. That’s significantly easier at IMS. If it’s not raining, it’s likely to be pretty brutal.
Delay-wise, Indianapolis does have a history of delays. In 2020, the start of the race was delayed an hour due to lightning. 2021 had delays as well, but those didn’t have anything to do with weather.
The 2018 Brantley Gilbert Big Machine Brickyard 400 was plagued by rain for the entire weekend. That year, both the Cup and Xfinity races were run as a doubleheader on Monday with no practice or qualifying.
The only constant appears to be heat. The years that the race ran in September were actually quite temperate. However, the July races have all had high temperatures between 87-93°.
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor.
Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.