Forecast of rain threatens NASCAR qualifying, Xfinity race

A revised National Weather Service Forecast is calling for a 90-percent chance of rain on Saturday that could dampen NASCAR Cup Series qualifying and the Boyd Gaming 300 Xfinity race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

In the event of rain, NASCAR will get together with its television partner, Fox, and LVMS officials to develop a contingency plan.

“The way we always approach these things on weather is as we get a little bit closer, we kind of build a contingency as it happens,” NASCAR spokesman Matt Stallknect said. “As of right now, we’re just operating as if we’ll get it in.”

Stallknect said NASCAR will be working directly with the weather service Saturday should the situation warrant.

“If it looks really early in the day that it is going to be a washout, we’ll definitely make a decision,” he said. “But as of right now, standard operating procedure.”

Since LVMS opened in 1996 only one NASCAR race has been postponed or called off due to weather. In 2000, Cup Series race day dawned cold before it began to rain. Jeff Burton was declared the winner after 148 of 267 scheduled laps.

There is no rain in the forecast for Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 Cup race. The Weather Service is calling for sunny skies and a high temperature of 68 degrees.

Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.