While listening to the Thursday May 16th edition of SiriusXM Channel 90 broadcast of Speedway with Dave Moody. The driving topic of the day was "Should NASCAR move the final race of the season from Phoenix? Many callers of the show said the final race should be moved and put into a rotation. However, many callers only named one track they felt as if the final race should be moved to. The lingering concern was what about the weather in November at these tracks? Of course, when you think about the month of November for most locations outside of California, Nevada and Florida the concern is cold air and possibly wintry weather. I wanted to take a few of the caller suggestions from the show and share some details on the average weather in November for those locations. Keep in mind I will eliminate Homestead, Phoenix and California tracks as those are obvious war weather locations for November. Additionally, I am going to use the date set for the final race in Phoenix 2025 as the metric for the date mentioned below. 

Charlotte Motor Speedway

Now it's no surprise the month of November could be cold in North Carolina, However, if you look back at the past two winters, we have had zero snow and for the most part mild conditions during the typically colder months of the year. The average high temperature in Concord North Carolina where the speedway is location on November 2nd is 69° The average rainfall in the area is 0,12 inches of rainfall for the date and the average snowfall is 0.0. So, in theory Charlotte Motor Speedway could be location for the final race of the NASCAR season, 

Texas Motor Speedway

There is no doubt the Lone Star state is a warm weather state for a vast majority of the days out of a calendar year. The average high in Fort Worth Texas on November 2nd is 71° with an average rainfall total of 0,11 inches for the date and 0.0 average snowfall on that date. Texas Motor Speedway again could be a location from a weather perspective that could host the final race of the NASCAR season.

Kansas Speedway

This is a track where NASCAR would have to be careful if it was considered for the final race of the season. Average high temperature for November 2nd in Kansas City is 60°. This could cause issues for the tire wear on the cars as cooler temperatures could have an impact on the track taking rubber. Average rainfall on this date is 0.07 inches and snowfall average is 0.0 inches on average for November 2nd. The biggest concern would be the cooler average high temperature. 

Bristol Motor Speedway

The last great coliseum would certainly make for an interesting place to hold the final race of the NASCAR season. The big factor for this one is something we saw earlier this season with temperatures being in the low 60's for highs causing chaos for drivers and crew chiefs when it came to tire wear. The average high temperature on November 2nd in Bristol is 64° which is walking a fine line for the tire wear issues as per Denny Hamlin after the March Bristol race. If the track temperature is not at least 65° or warmer, it will not hold rubber. The average rainfall is 0,10 inches for the date and average snowfall is 0.0. Like with Kansas the biggest concern would be the cooler average high temperature. 

Atlanta Motor Speedway

With the news earlier this week about the second race of the season for Atlanta being a night race in June. it is likely the final race of the season would not be in Atlanta anytime soon. However, this was one of the tracks being mentioned by callers to the Speedway show. The average high temperature is 67° on November 2nd for Hampton Georgia where the track is located. Average rainfall for this date is 0.14 inches and snow fall on average is 0.0. Much like Charlotte and Texas Atlanta would be a good alternate location from a weather standpoint to have the final race of the NASCAR season. 

Darlington Raceway

Literally off the heels of some great racing this past weekend at Darlington. It is no surprise this was one of the tracks mentioned on Speedway by callers of the show. The average high temperature on November 2nd in Darlington is 70° with an average rainfall of 0.10 inches for the date and an average snowfall of 0.0 for the date. Making Darlington another possible alternate location for the final race of the NASCAR season.

Now of course this is all just for conversation purposes as I found the topic rather interesting listening to Speedway. It is likely NASCAR has no plans to move the race from Phoenix anytime soon. I do want to be clear I am not even advocating for the race to be moved out of Phoenix. As a weather forecaster I just thought it would be interesting to share some data on how the thought of the final race being moved based on weather is really not that big of an issue overall, the one caveat is if the race is slated for the end of November the average high temperatures in some of these locations along with average rainfall could and most likely would look different. The bottom line is if the race date is fairly close to the beginning of November. Then in theory this is really not that crazy of an idea.