Insider Warns NASCAR Against Las Vegas Curve Ball as Rough Weather May Play Spoilsport

Mother Nature sure had her way of messing up the first couple of races. The Clash at the Coliseum had to be moved up a day, stirring up a whole lot of chaos and leaving fans pretty bummed out. And then the Daytona 500 wasn’t left alone either; it had to be pushed back because of the weather. But, by some stroke of luck, the Atlanta race managed to dodge any weather drama. Fans were crossing their fingers for a smooth, Atlanta-style weekend, but it looks like Las Vegas might not be so lucky. And according to stock car racing driver, Brendan Gaughan, and the official weather forecast, some weather woes could be on the horizon for Vegas too.

NASCAR insider reveals how strong winds will affect racing at Las Vegas

Las Vegas is usually all about that dry desert heat, especially when the Cup Series rolls into town in the fall. Spring races there have mostly been smooth sailing, weather-wise, since Vegas isn’t really known for its weather drama. Most years, the race just zooms on without any issues. But this year, things might shake up a bit.

Weather.com’s got the forecast for Las Vegas Motor Speedway showing a cool 59° and partly cloudy skies for Sunday. Saturday might be looking to hit the same high of 59°, but with a twist – it’s going to be super windy. We’re talking 25 mph winds with gusts hitting over 40 mph. The good news? By Sunday, the winds may chill out to about 10 mph.

Brendan Gaughan gave the community the lowdown, saying, “It looks like we’re going to have gusts of 50, 60 miles an hour Saturday and possibly Sunday. Uh, yeah, no bueno. It, you know, for the Super Bowl, we had a phenomenal weekend. This weekend right now it is 75 degrees outside with a light two-mile hour breeze and it is absolutely freaking stunning, Bagman. And it is supposed to turn into… the devil snare with wind this weekend at [Las] Vegas as you know breaks somehow.”

He continued, “You know if the winds blowing you know north to south they’re going to come out of turn two and lose those noses. If it’s blowing down the front straightaway, it’s going to pick you up off the floor. It’s a difficult track in the wind.”

The National Weather Service is also hinting at possible “patchy blowing dust” hitting the track between 1-5 pm and again after 9 pm on Friday. The Truck race looks like it’s got a clear shot to finish up without a hitch, but everything before that, like the Truck and Xfinity practice and qualifying, might get a bit tricky.

The dust could stir things up during the Xfinity Series race and the Cup Series practice and qualifying, scheduled for midday local time. Daylon Barr dropped a tweet, mentioning that some weather predictions for this week even suggest we might see snow flurries on Saturday evening. While it’s expected to roll in likely after the Xfinity Series race wraps up, folks at the track might want to bundle up just in case.

And for anyone thinking Las Vegas has never seen this kind of action before, think again. History lessons from 2000 and 2016 tell us Vegas has had its fair share of weather surprises.

How Vegas has had some instances of weather drama over the years

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Back in 2000, the skies opened up, and the race had to be cut short, marking the second time Jeff Burton and a lucky fan each snagged a $1 million bonus from a rain-shortened win. They only got through 148 of the planned 267 laps that day. Burton, who was sitting pretty with 12 career wins at the time, also clinched victories in two rain-shortened races in Darlington, S.C., in the previous year. His win in the Southern 500 that September was another big payday.

Fast forward to 2014, and the track was all set for a Red Bull Air Race World Championship race, but lousy weather threw a wrench in the works. They had to call it off and base the results on qualifying speeds instead. They gave it another shot in 2015 and managed to pull off the event without a hitch. Then came 2016, and they were ready to host again, but this time, high winds blew the whole thing off the calendar. Rain and wind pushed back the race start, and later, a desert sandstorm barged through, adding more chaos to the mix.

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The 2016 race weekend had kicked off with pretty decent weather. Friday brought a bit of cloud cover just in time for the NASCAR Sprint Cup’s practice and qualifying rounds. Come Saturday, it was all sunshine with barely a cloud in sight.

The Xfinity race started with a gentle breeze coming from the east – nothing out of the ordinary. As the race heated up, so did the action on the track, with clouds gathering and the temperature starting to dip. Fans were treated to some top-notch side-by-side racing. When the dust settled, Kyle Busch was the man of the hour, leading 199 out of 200 laps in a show of sheer dominance. The Las Vegas native finally snagged his first Xfinity Series win at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Things took a wet turn with a brief rain shower, forcing the cars to be covered and putting a temporary stop to the celebrations for about 25 minutes. But soon enough, the weather cleared, and the track started to dry up. Come Sunday, the weekend in Vegas was hit by such a fierce sandstorm that visibility plummeted to less than 60%. It got so bad, that folks even had trouble seeing the mountain range, Nellis Air Force Base, and the Las Vegas skyline.