Rain has always been a hindrance to NASCAR, especially when the race is at a superspeedway. And the same thing happened at the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway. Freddie Kraft, the spotter for Bubba Wallace, has now joined the fans as they gave NASCAR a lot of flack.
Kraft didn’t shy away from throwing shade at NASCAR’s questionable decision.
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The spotter came on a recent episode of Door, Bumper, Clear! and he wasn’t happy about NASCAR being overly cautious and throwing out a caution whenever they see fit.
He said, “The first time somebody said the word- ‘raindrop’, yellow, put it out. Like, it hadn’t really rained yet. But I’m good with that, versus, what they’re talking about”
“The idea of throwing a caution when it’s not raining. I just don’t think you can do it.”
But of course, this is high-speed motor racing, and you can never be too cautious. So, the spotter has a suggestion for the series to make it easier. He suggested, “There were rumors about them testing some stuff out this weekend, trying to see if there’s rain coming and how close it is to the track. Unless they have something where it’s like like- ‘right here on TV, it’s raining 100 yards from the racetrack, we’re throwing a yellow’.”
That’s not a horrible idea, actually. In fact, it’s quite smart since the fans would quite prefer to know what is happening in and around the track.
Moreover, Kraft seems to be quite firm on his idea of being transparent as he emphasized, “They have to be completely transparent with it or not do it.”
But it begs the question, why does NASCAR now allow drivers to race in the rain?
Why can’t NASCAR drivers race under wet conditions?
Plenty of racing series, including Formula One and Le Mans, have no issues racing in the rain. In fact, they call rain the “equalizer” because now it’s not all about being the fastest driver in the fastest car.
So why is it such a big issue in NASCAR, especially considering that we have a wet weather tire?
See this photo up here? This is what would happen if we started racing in the rain. Although NASCAR does race in wet conditions, it depends on the track.
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NASCAR does indeed race in rain, but that’s limited to road courses. On the other hand, oval tracks and speedways, which dominate the larger chunk of the map, don’t allow wet weather racing.
And the reason is pretty simple, the banking and the weight of cars just do not allow for proper grip in damp conditions. The risk is far too high, and stock cars are very heavy, somewhere around 3,300 pounds.
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Even if the drivers have wet-weather tires, they will not survive the weight of the car on the banks.