All outdoor sports are heavily affected by the changing weather during their season of play. Many have either shorter seasons (Football), avoid playing during the winter months (Baseball), or build enclosed stadiums to get the best conditions for players and fans. With one of the longest seasons in professional sports, NASCAR runs from around Valentine’s Day to just before Thanksgiving and doesn’t have the luxury of climate controlled domes. However, with a range of tracks from south to north, a carefully crafted schedule can get the series to each track during the best time of year.
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As seen by the graph above, this is achieved by starting the series in southern tracks during February and March when many northern areas are still experience cold and snow. Over the course of the summer there is a gradually move north, visiting tracks like Chicago, Pocono (Pennsylvania), Watkins Glen (New York), and New Hampshire during a time of year when the deep south is typically experiencing oppressive heat and humidity (and perhaps tropical storm activity). The outlier there is Daytona in July, but by racing at night the worst of the heat can be avoided as seen by the graph below of “Normal Race Temperature”. There’s a definite southern trend at the end of the year during NASCAR Playoffs “The Chase”; going from the two of the northernmost tracks (Chicagoland and New Hampshire in early September down to the season finale Homestead-Miami.
This strategy works well overall, but personal experience tells me it’s not perfect. I’ve been to a chilly (50s) Pocono race in June; a hot and humid (90s) July race in New Hampshire; and a cool, damp and dreary October race in Dover where a nearby tropical system dropped just over 4.50” of rain in the days leading up to the race (remember Joaquin?). With a season that could include snow storms, severe weather, hurricanes, and back to snow storms; scheduling races at the right time is critical for an outdoor sport that travels around the country. Clearly this is taken into account as NASCAR schedules their races each season.
