On August 27th, RaceWeather.net, a trusted weather forecasting site serving the racing community since 2003, reassured fans concerned about another rainy day race at Darlington, that “the chance is smaller than last week” on their official Twitter handle. The collective had predicted that the chances for rains over the racetrack were mainly on evenings of Friday and Sunday. But in their most recent update, raceweather.net suggests, “FRI & SAT are looking great, but keep an eye on SUN — scattered showers and thunderstorms are possible. While there’s some uncertainty in the timing and coverage, it’s shaping up to be a 1-poncho kind of day…”

And what do they mean by a “1-poncho day?” When a fan questioned if a “1 poncho day is better than a multi-poncho day,” the people operating RaceWeather.net’s Twitter replied, “I’ll bring the one and hope not to use it.” As for the specifics, their official website expects the temperature to average lows of 72°F and highs of 92°F from Friday, August 30, all the way through Sunday, September 1st. RaceWeather.net informs the NASCAR community that they “don’t rely on the outside sources for the actual forecasts, except for NWS’ issuances of advisories.” They claim to have “3 degreed meteorologists” and a 4th one is working “on his Bachelors.”

As for the National Weather Service (NWS)? Their 7-day report anticipates a rise in precipitation levels from 20% on Saturday to 60% on Monday morning. Although most of August has been hot and humid off the coast of South Carolina, the NWS foresee showers carrying over onto the next month, right until Thursday, September 5th. With this, the anticipations for Saturday’s schedule could take a major hit, as the agency predicts “a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2 pm.” Practice and qualifying for the Xfinity & Cup races should be over by 1:20 pm. However, the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 Xfinity race will go live at 3:30 p.m. ET. If the rain chances prevail, it could throw a potential wrench into the works of that contest.

On Sunday, the conditions could get worse with rains forecasted above Darlington Raceway yet again, from 2 pm. The NWS also estimates “New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch,” with even higher amounts possible in the situation of a thunderstorm. Sunday night will most probably remain cloudy, with renewed chances of rain before 2 am. Scheduled for a 6 pm green flag time, if the 2024 Cookout Southern 500 Cup race is impacted or not, remains to be seen. The Weather Channel has even projected a 50% chance of rain on Sunday night.

Regardless, if inclement weather affects what would be the 20th race in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series, it wouldn’t be a first for The Lady in Black. Interestingly, it would be the 526th Cup race weekend affected by weather in the 75-year history based on Seth Eggert’s available data. But what can fans do in such a situation?

How fans can save their tickets in case of inclement weather