Nascar Is Set To Make Rain Tires Available On Short Tracks In 2023

“Why can’t Nascar just race in the rain?” It’s the questions fans have been asking for decades.

Nascar fans may not have to worry about missing a race because it was rained out in 2023. The world of stock car racing is about to see what people have been asking for: Rain tires.

While Nascar has utilized rain tires on road courses in the past, it is virtually unheard of to compete in the rain on an oval. But with the Next Gen car and wider GoodyearGT
tires, the sport plans to debut rain tires on ovals in 2023.

Road and Track’s Bozi Tatarevic said there will be up to 15 races with rain tires next year. The move will provide Nascar with some comfort knowing there will be fewer races that will have a chance of being postponed.

The only races to be postponed due to inclement weather in 2022 was the DuraMAX Drydene 400 at Dover Motor Speedway and the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway.

Nascar has tested cars in wet conditions on ovals, but 2023 could be the first time cars will compete in the rain on ovals.

Nascar first announced its intentions to test cars on rain tires in March 2021. Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher, a few days after the initial announcement, held a test session on a wet Martinsville Speedway.

“I think the overall goal is anything we can do to speed up the drying process, regardless of the technology, to allow us to get back to racing more quickly is a benefit to the fans,” Nascar COO Steve O’Donnell said at the time. “We’re always trying to innovate, and you saw that with what we’ve done around the track-drying system and that’s worked out well. We’ve always looked at what’s the next iteration.

“If you’ve looked at what the teams have been able to do with more road racing coming into the fold, the idea of short tracks and could we work with Goodyear to find a tire that would allow us to get back to racing sooner under wet-weather conditions.”