Weather forces NASCAR drivers to make wild adjustments at New Hampshire
Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at New Hampshire wound up looking very different, arguably in a good way, thanks to some intervention from the weather.
Rainy weather led to a lengthy delay at Loudon on Sunday, and when the race restarted, every car had been made to change over to wet-weather rain tires. There was some criticism that NASCAR did not choose to start the race with the cars configured for a wet track, but it certainly made for interesting viewing after the restart.
When the green flag came out with 73 laps to go, drivers had to get very creative when it came to progressing on what was suddenly a slower track. That meant a whole array of cars clumped together, sometimes going four- to five-wide.
This is so cool in person pic.twitter.com/ELMzrxvviA
— Mellz (@ElectronixPurge) June 23, 2024
Hilariously, drivers actually went through the puddles on the side of the track during a caution in an effort to keep the wet-weather tires cool.
To keep the wet-weather tires cool, drivers are going into the puddles under yellow. 😅
📺 : USA Network | #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/0tUMSMdtiC
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) June 23, 2024
Wet-weather tires made their NASCAR debut earlier this year after being approved for the 2023 season. They certainly changed Sunday’s race, and for many people, it was actually an improvement as it forced drivers into a bit more strategy.