After an extremely rainy spring, things have been very dry in the northeast since the beginning of July. Parts of the region are experiencing certain levels of drought. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, the area immediately around New Hampshire Motor Speedway is experiencing a severe drought at the moment.
That said, drought-like conditions likely means that precipitation won’t negatively affect race weekends. The forecast looks good for that.
The forecast for Friday is for sunny skies and a high of 75°. There is no chance of rain, but it will be a little breezy.
A front will move through Friday night. It won’t bring precipitation, but it will lower temperatures. Saturday’s forecast includes sunny skies and a high around 69°. However, once the sun goes down, the temps will drop like a rock. There is a small chance of frost Saturday night, so if you’re camping at the track, bring warm clothing.
After a cold start, Sunday’s weather is good. It will be 72° and sunny with light winds. Just about perfect for a race.
Historically, fall races at Loudon have had nice weather. September is a good time of year to go to New England. This is still too early for leaf-pepping, but it’s a good time to relax.
There is only one instance of a fall Loudon race being rain-shortened. That was in 2002 when Ryan Newman won the New Hampshire 300 for his first career win.
Now, the early summer races, they’re another story. At least five of those have been affected by rain.
The first of those was the 2000 ThatLook.com 300, which was won by Tony Stewart. Ultimately, everything that happened that weekend was overshadowed by the death of Kenny Irwin Jr. in a practice crash.
Races were rain-shortened in 2008, 2009 (Joey Logano’s first victory on fuel mileage) and 2021, when darkness ended the race early. Last year’s race that Christopher Bell won was run partially on rain tires, resulting in an interesting affair.
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.