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The NASCAR Dollar Tree 301 is starting in rain today. Here\u2019s why NASCAR can race in the conditions and whether weather could cause a delay.<\/p>\n
The Dollar Tree 301 in Loudon, New Hampshire, is going green on wet-weather tires, and every car in the Cup Series field is starting the race that way. Rain fell heavily enough that the green flag was being held back, delaying the start time, but by 2:45 p.m. ET track dryers were moving standing water off the oval, and officials instructed teams to remove the covers from their waiting cars. <\/p>\n
Cars were back on the tracks, running repeated pace laps while they waited for NASCAR to give the go-ahead for the race to start officially \u2014 which it finally did at about 3:05, and just moments later early leader Tyler Reddick spun out around turn 4. Clearly the track remained wet even as the rain had ceased to fall, resulting in a caution as soon as the race finally began.<\/p>\n
\u201cRain has stopped. NASCAR is focusing on drying pit road and the frontstretch. Will be a few more laps before we get the green,\u201d wrote The Athletic\u2018s Jordan Bianchi<\/a> at about 3 p.m.<\/p>\n Radar showed that rain had mostly cleared<\/a> the Loudon region, but NASCAR had yet to announce a start time. But at about 2:50, drivers were told<\/a> to re-fire their engines, so the green flag seemed to be imminent.<\/p>\n Carson Hocevar spun out during a pace lap, leading NASCAR to pull all of the cars off the track and into the pit lane as race officials waited for the rain to clear. \u201cIt\u2019s a little slick off 4,\u201d Hocevar was heard saying<\/a> over his radio after going around.<\/p>\n \u201cI get the impression NASCAR really wanted to go for it there, despite that not being their standard operating procedure, until the 77 spun,\u201d wrote Motorsports senior<\/a> NASCAR editor Matt Weaver. \u201cEveryone\u2019s radio was full of conversation about NASCAR saying they wanted to go and teams (mostly) thinking it was a little bold of them.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition, the newly developed wet weather tire technology doesn\u2019t solve the problem of visibility. Even with tires gripping the wet track, drivers still may not be able to see properly, another reason that NASCAR held back the green flag.<\/p>\n NASCAR confirmed Sunday\u2019s field will grid on Goodyear\u2019s treaded wet-weather compound rather than the usual dry-weather slicks, according to Jayski\u2019s live race coverage<\/a> from New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Rain fell across the track around 11:35 a.m. ET, easing to a light sprinkle by 12:30 p.m., and officials chose not to wait out a fully dry surface before sending cars to the grid.<\/p>\n That plan can still shift. NASCAR left itself room to reassess if the track dries out enough before the green flag actually drops, and Sunday\u2019s start had already been moved up an hour, to 2:10 p.m. ET, to squeeze in as much daylight as possible at a track with no lights.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t What Starting on Wet-Weather Tires Means<\/p>\n Goodyear\u2019s wet-weather tire is a lightly treaded damp\/intermediate compound, not a full rain tire built for standing water or sustained downpours, according to Goodyear\u2019s tire notes for the weekend<\/a>. Teams each have four sets available, and NASCAR typically controls when cars can switch away from them.<\/p>\n Lap times slow. Grip disappears. Drivers hunt for traction in multi-wide packs while braking points and throttle inputs get reworked on the fly, based on preview reporting from NASCAR.com. Pit road itself can stay damp long enough to force non-competitive stops before the real strategy even begins.<\/p>\n NASCAR has also set an adverse-conditions cutoff of 7:05 p.m. ET<\/a>. If the Dollar Tree 301 isn\u2019t finished by then, officials will display two laps to go the next time the leader crosses the line and end the race on the spot.<\/p>\n Christopher Bell\u2019s 2024 Blueprint<\/p>\n New Hampshire has run this exact playbook before. Christopher Bell won the 2024 race at the Magic<\/a> Mile after the field switched to wet-weather tires, starting fourth, leading 149 laps and running every circuit inside the top 15, according to statistics attributed to NASCAR.com\u2019s recap of that race.<\/p>\n Ryan Blaney\u2019s day looked nothing like it. He finished 25th in that same 2024 wet-tire stretch, in a race where the field never returned to dry-weather slicks. The gap between those two finishes says everything about how much wet-tire comfort separates contenders from also-rans once the grip disappears.<\/p>\n Tyler Reddick starts from the pole with Josh Berry alongside him on the front row, and clean air matters more than usual on a track still shedding moisture. Crew chiefs<\/a> carrying notes from that 2024 New Hampshire wet run \u2014 plus damp sessions at North Wilkesboro and Bowman Gray \u2014 walk in with a real edge on tire life and setup, according to NASCAR.com\u2019s crew chief preview for the weekend.<\/p>\n Could a Delay Still Hit the Dollar Tree 301?<\/p>\n Yes. If the rain intensifies into standing water, reduced visibility or lightning, NASCAR will throw the red flag regardless of what tires are on the cars, according to a rain-delay explainer previously published by Heavy.com\u2019s NASCAR desk<\/a>. Wet-weather tires handle a damp track. They were never designed for a genuine downpour.<\/p>\n Sunday\u2019s forecast carried rising precipitation chances through the afternoon, climbing well past the odds officials faced at the green flag. Any real spike in that rain would likely force a full stoppage while NASCAR waits out the worst of it or weighs whether wet tires alone can finish the job once the heaviest bands pass.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \n\t\t\tJonathan Vankin<\/a> JONATHAN VANKIN is an award-winning journalist who covers MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, boxing, golf, and Olympic sports for Heavy.com. He twice won New England Newspaper and Press Association awards for sports feature writing. He was a sports editor and writer at The Daily Yomiuri in Tokyo, Japan, covering the Olympics, pro baseball, boxing, sumo and other sports. More about Jonathan Vankin<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty The NASCAR Dollar Tree 301 is starting in rain today. 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