NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying delayed due to rain at New Hampshire

The NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying sessions at New Hampshire have been delayed due to rain in the area. Officials were unable to get track drying equipment on the track due to the steady rain at the venue.

New Hampshire is a tough place to race this time of the year. It is almost always threatened by rain. The modified race got lucky and was able to run the full 100 laps this morning.

Whenever it came time for the NASCAR Cup Series to hit the Magic Mile track in New Hampshire, the rain came down. It’s just too much to get dealt with in time with the Xfinity Series race later this afternoon.

Practice and qualifying was set to start at 12:35 PM EST. Right now, we’re all in a holding pattern.

We’re going to take a quick break due to the rain and will return to the air at 1 p.m. ET with an update on Cup Series qualifying and the Xfinity Series action at @NHMS. pic.twitter.com/CBXGu9DJlg

— PRN (@PRNlive) June 22, 2024

UPDATE: NASCAR has canceled qualifying but is hoping to still have practice at New Hampshire. The Xfinity Series is set to race at 3:06 PM EST. It will be a small practice to give teams an opportunity to dial in their cars and understand the new tire setup on the track.

Without a qualifying session, Chase Elliott will be on the pole with Ryan Blaney on the front row. Those two drivers have been having good seasons. Especially Elliott. Blaney picked up a win at Iowa last week and now at a track similar in size, he will try to go back-to-back.

Drivers appear to be positive on the hopes of practicing. This is a good move from NASCAR in order to allow drivers time on the New Hampshire track. I don’t think you will find many, if any, complaining about getting practice laps in.

NASCAR battling weather at New Hampshire

It is an absolute chess match between NASCAR and Mother Nature at the moment. While we haven’t seen much action on the track this weekend, there is plenty going on behind the scenes.

The Xfinity Series race was moved up. Qualifying for the Cup Series was canceled. But there is a lot that we have yet to see. The good news is that wet-weather tires are an option at New Hampshire.

Truth be told, NASCAR has been lucky when it comes to weather in 2024. There has not been a lot canceled. Things certainly didn’t start out well with the Busch Light Clash being moved an entire day due to historic rainfall in the Los Angeles area.

New Hampshire is a thing all its own, though. Rain has played a factor in each of the last two seasons and this makes it three now. Is this just what we expect at Loudon at this point?