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Weather threatens NASCAR Cup Series Dover race in Stage 3

Brian Jones Profile Picby: Brian Jones07/20/25brianjones_93
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Alex Gould/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK

As the NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover comes to a close, inclement weather is threatening to disrupt Stage 3. The X/Twitter account Race Weather reported that small showers were developing six miles from Dover Motor Speedway at 4:35 p.m. ET. The account also said that heavier storms were about 20 miles northwest of the track.

The good news for NASCAR fans is the weather shouldn’t impact the race in terms of being called. Jeff Gluck of The Athletic said the rain is small and won’t be a “race ender.” Another thing to note is that since the race is halfway done, it’s official, meaning if NASCAR had to suspend the race, it would be over.

The weather impacted the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Dover on Saturday. Connor Zilisch won the Xfinity race, leading 77 of the 134 laps. The race was scheduled for 200 but was called because of rain.

After the race, Zilisch said (per NASCAR.com), “We’ve been showing it lately, First of all, I hate that we couldn’t finish the race the right way. Aric [Almirola] was really fast and was going to give me a run for my money. Props to him for making me work for it. Still really proud of this JR Motorsports team. … We capitalized on all fronts, had good pit stops both stages and put ourselves in a position to be in the right spot when the rain fell. Very thankful.”

With the regular season winding down, the Dover Cup series race is big for drivers on the bubble. Bubba Wallace, who has had an up-and-down year, entered the race holding on to the final playoff spot. Last year, Wallace finished 32nd at Dover and has not finished in the top 10 at the track in 10 career races.

Kyle Busch is looking to make a playoff push despite being below the cut line. He has had a lot of success at Dover, as he won at the track three times and finishing in the top five 11 additional times.

We’ll have more on this story shortly.