Richmond Raceway cancels pre-event activities ahead of Tropical Storm Debby arrival

Richmond Raceway announced Wednesday that all pre-event activities have been cancelled through 4 p.m. ET Friday due to the projected impact of Tropical Storm Debby.

The cancelled events include: NASCAR Pacing Budweiser Clydesdales in Carytown, Camper Welcome Party, American Marketing Association Beyond NASCAR Panel, Speediatrics Fun Day Festival, and Lori’s Lemonade.

The NASCAR Youth Series has already cancelled all racing activities at Richmond this weekend. The NASCAR Youth Series is the sanctioning body for the quarter-midget racing division of the United States Auto Club (USAC). The events were scheduled to take place Thursday-Sunday, leading up to the Cup Series’ Cook Out 400, but Debby had other plans.

Debby is currently projected to pass through Virginia early Friday morning and be well past the area by the time on-track activity starts Saturday. Green flag for the Clean Harbors 250 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race is scheduled to wave at approximately 7:30 p.m. Saturday. The Cook Out 400, meanwhile, is slated for an approximate 6:00 p.m. start time Sunday. The current forecast in Richmond calls for a 12% chance of precipitation Saturday and 5% Sunday, per The Weather Channel.

The Cook Out 400 is the first race back for the Cup Series following the two-week Olympic break. With just four regular season races remaining and four playoff spots up for grabs, the racing promises to be intense.

NASCAR bringing multiple Goodyear tire choices to Richmond

NASCAR is trying something new at Richmond, allowing teams to have two Goodyear tire choices available for use. Goodyear will have a softer “option” tire with the benefit of a more short-term grip and a baseline “prime” tire that provides more of a lasting ride. The sanctioning body auditioned the tires during the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro in May. NASCAR is now giving it a try at Richmond after the spring race at the track underwhelmed.

The option tires will have red sidewall letting, and prime tires will have the traditional yellow labeling. Teams will be allotted six sets of prime tires, and two sets of option tires. One prime set will carry over from qualifying.

Elton Sawyer explains multiple tire options for Richmond

Elton Sawyer, NASCAR senior vice president of competition, said the sanctioning body is working really hard to improve its short-track racing package, and believes the multiple tire options will help bring entertaining racing back to Richmond.

“The All-Star Race is a great event obviously by itself. But it gives us the opportunity to learn,” Sawyer said last month. “This past year, it gave us the chance to try something with tires, and we’re working really hard in NASCAR as well as the folks at the R&D Center to improve the short-track package. So, the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro gave us the opportunity to introduce the option tire. Something we’d never done to my knowledge in the history of our sport, to have different compounds during an event.

“As that event unfolded, throughout the weekend, we were still optimistic that we would see something there that would really move the needle on our short-track package. We didn’t get the results at Wilkesboro that we were hoping for. With a very similar opportunity that we had at Bristol where we did see results. And even at Iowa where we did as well. Any time we can put our teams in a position where they have to manage tires, we really see some great racing. And we see an entertaining race, so that’s our goal going into Richmond.”