This season, NASCAR has allowed wet weather tires to be used on some of the shorter oval tracks – Phoenix, Martinsville, New Hampshire, North Wilkesboro, Richmond, the Milwaukee Mile and Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
This weekend the Craftsman Truck and Cup Series will race at Richmond Raceway as NASCAR makes a return after taking a break for the Olympics and NASCAR has tweaked the wet weather tire policy as Debby continues to ravage the east coast.
Previously NASCAR determined when the teams were allowed to change tires; but have now turned that decision over to the teams. While NASCAR will still determine whether a track is “wet” or “dry”; they are now allowing the teams to decide whether or not they wish to change tires during wet weather conditions or stay out on the track to gain position.
Teams will have four sets of wet weather tires for this weekend to use if needed. NASCAR is also bringing back the option tires that were used during the All Star race; giving the teams further options for which sets of tires they may want to use during the race.
It should be noted that the “wet weather tires” are for tracks that are “damp” not rain drenched. Any water buildup on a track will cause spraying of that water behind the cars and interfering with visibility of the drivers – creating an unsafe condition on the track.