all Charlotte Motor Speedway track activity was postponed for Friday, October 7th.
Some weather info from the Charlotte Observer: Pat Moore, of the National Weather Service office in Greer, S.C., said the forecast for the Charlotte area is tricky, because there could be a significant cut-off in rainfall over relatively short distances at the edge of Matthew’s circulation. He said that as computer models have updated every six hours for the past few days, the line between light and heavier precipitation has been moved back and forth across the Charlotte metro region. ‘It appears as if any potential for significant rainfall would not be until after sunset Friday,’ Moore said. Hotels across the Charlotte area, already flush with reservations for Sunday’s NASCAR race and Monday night’s Panthers game, now are fielding calls from evacuees. North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory, who declared a state of emergency earlier in the week for 66 central and eastern counties, expanded the state of emergency to all 100 counties. He said that will enable help to Eastern North Carolina and surrounding states. Charlotte-area hotels were filling fast. The Holiday Inn Express in Pineville was about 90 percent full early Thursday evening, manager Gloria Bell said, with many of the people coming from the Charleston area. The Courtyard Charlotte Ballantyne and the Renaissance Charlotte SouthPark Hotel were sold out.(Charlotte Observer)
AND Lauren Visin, a meteorologist with the weather service office in Greer, S.C., says the track of the Category 3 storm hovering off the Florida coast has turned eastward. Not much, she says, maybe 20 miles in all. But that’s still enough to affect what will be blowing through Charlotte over the next 24 to 36 hours. For now, forecasters are predicting 2 to 3 inches of rain here before the remnants of the storm blows through sometime Saturday night. Earlier projections put the precipitation totals as high as 4 1/2 inches. Wind gusts are still expected to reach 40 mph on Saturday – meaning scattered treefall and power outages are possible. A flash-flood watch remains in effect as far north as Union County. Visin says Mecklenburg County may be added to the list, as the weather services keeps an eye on several bands of rain that could hit the city Friday night. The heavier stuff should continue through Saturday afternoon, before tapering off that night and ending altogether on Sunday.(Charlotte Observer) From Thursday: It’s too early to say whether the XFinity race will be postponed to Saturday or Sunday, Charlotte Motor Speedway spokesman Scott Cooper said. But speedway officials ‘feel very good about Saturday evening’ for the Bank of America 500, he said. The speedway has 12 jet dryers – double the number required by NASCAR – and 12 Air Titans to dry the track in 90 minutes, Cooper said. An additional 10 dump truck loads of gravel and two additional dump truck loads of sand are on hand to shore up any spots on the property affected by rain, he said. The speedway, meanwhile, has plenty of dry camping spaces with restroom/bathhouse access available to Hurricane Matthew evacuees, Cooper said. At $125 for a week’s stay, spaces ‘are much more affordable than several nights of stay at a hotel,’ he said. ‘Plus, there’s a lot of free entertainment with our Fan Zone through the weekend to take an evacuee’s mind off what may be happening with the storm on the coast.’ More info on camping at charlottemotorspeedway.com.(Charlotte Observer)
NASCAR NASCAR officials said they are closely monitoring the track of Hurricane Matthew ahead of Saturday night’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. No decision has been made that would potentially alter the status of Saturday night’s Bank of America 500, the fourth event in the 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs. Rain is currently forecast Friday and early Saturday, according to the National Weather Service. The next race in the XFINITY Series Chase ‘ the Drive for the Cure 300 Presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of NC ‘ is scheduled for Friday (NASCAR.com)
Links to Charlotte area weather forecast sites are posted on Jayski.com’s Charlotte race info page.
Current forecast for Friday and Saturday (as of Friday, Oct. 7th, 7:30pm/et):
Friday Night: Rain. Low 67F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a half an inch.
Saturday: Cloudy with periods of rain. High 71F. Winds NNE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near an inch. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph..
Saturday Night: Windy. Cloudy skies will become mostly clear late. Low 57F. Winds NNW at 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph. Chance of rain 10%.
Sunday: Sunny. High around 75F. Winds NNW at 10 to 20 mph.
See updates on JAYSKI.com’s NASCAR Twitter.
