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NASCAR race day forecast is cool, windy, wet for LVMS

Uh-oh. Mother Nature is coming up fast on the high side, and she doesn’t look all that pleased.

The weather forecast for Sunday’s Kobalt 400 has turned iffy, with much cooler temperatures forecasted — and worse, a chance of rain.

AccuWeather is calling for a high of 65 degrees with winds out of the southwest at 20 mph and gusts of 30 mph — and a 63 percent chance of showers.

“If we were to have rain Sunday afternoon, we would do everything we could to dry the track and run the race later in the day,” NASCAR spokesman Mike Lovecchio said about weather contingency plans. “We do have our Air Titan 2.0 track drying system here this weekend to assist in any track-drying efforts.

“If for whatever reason we could not run the race Sunday, we would likely postpone the race to Monday. Fingers crossed, it stays nice and dry throughout the weekend.”

Monday’s long-range forecast is calling for a high of 58 degrees with a 63 percent chance of rain.

Only one of the past 18 Sprint Cup races at Las Vegas was halted by rain before the full 400-mile distance. Jeff Burton was declared the winner in 2000 with 148 laps — many run under caution — of the scheduled 267 completed.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ron Kantowski can be reached at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow him on Twitter: @ronkantowski.

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