The forecast for the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 is questionable but it’s also complicated.
The easy version of this dilemma would be to tell you there is a 50 percent chance of rain on Saturday during the most prestigious Late Model Stock Car race of the year. The more complicated and nuanced version is that there are two rainmakers, a frontal band of showers on Thursday and Friday and an upper level low that could spin up storms on Friday and Saturday — both making the forecast kind of unpredictable.
It’s not as simple as trusting a weather app because those are just aggregates of numerous runs of multiple models. This also makes it really hard for Martinsville Speedway president Clay Campbell to tell you definitively what he is thinking days away from the start of his event.
“We have worked through Plans B, Plan C and Plan D all by time we get back to the Speedway,” Campbell told Short Track Scene on Wednesday afternoon at an activation event in Roanoke. “We try our best to plan and whatever happens, we try to be ready for it.”
Campbell, like most promoters, are not going to publicly tip his hands about those plans because he doesn’t want to discourage racers or fans from coming in the case they do get a perfectly sunny day on Saturday.
And Saturday is all that matters as Campbell says they will run the racing without practice and qualifying if they need to.
“All of that has been taken into consideration,” Campbell said. “The race will run if the track is right. We have almost as much track drying equipment this weekend as a Cup weekend with Air Titans, Elgin Sweepers, the jets and buffalo blowers.
“We’re covered as long as nothing is falling from the sky.”
In the case that rain does interrupt qualifying and heat racing, there is already a procedure in the entry blank to handle all number of scenarios too. They are as follows:
If all cars do not have the opportunity to qualify due to unforeseen circumstances, the starting field for the ValleyStar Credit Union ‘300’ (200-Lap Late Model Stock Car Feature) will be determined by the following procedures:
Starting positions for the Qualifying Races will be assigned in order of the fastest times of the competitors Final Practice session – or the First Practice session if Final Practice does not take place. The designated event director will determine if all cars have had an opportunity to practice. If NO practice for this event is held, the starting field(s) for the Qualifying Races will be determined by the current NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series National Driver point standings, starting with the driver ranked highest until all available starting positions have been assigned. All other available starting positions will be assigned to cars in the order of date of received entry coupon.
If one or more of the Qualifying Races are not completed, the starting field for the ValleyStar Credit Union ‘300’ (200-Lap Late Model Stock Car Feature) will be determined by the following procedures:
Starting positions that were assigned by the Official Finish Order of any of the completed qualifying race(s).
The remaining starting positions through 37th will be assigned by the current NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series National Driver point standings, starting with the driver ranked highest until starting position(s) 1st through 37th have been assigned.
Starting position 38th in the Feature Event will be assigned to the winner of the June 28, 2025, 200-Lap Late Model Stock Car event at South Boston (VA) Speedway, unless already assigned.
Starting position 39th in the Feature Event will be assigned to the winner July 19, 2025, 200-Lap Late Model Stock Car event at Langley (VA) Speedway, unless already assigned.
Starting position 40th in the Feature Event will be assigned to Carson Kvapil, the winner of the 2024 ValleyStar Credit Union ‘300’ at Martinsville Speedway (200-Lap Late Model Stock Car Feature), if entered in the event and unless already assigned.
If any position(s) remains unfilled for the Feature Event, it will be assigned to cars in order of date of received entry coupon
As long as it isn’t raining, Campbell likes his chances, especially if the sun is out.
“That goes a long, long way,” Campbell said. “We can’t outdo the sun but I think we’ll be okay. The mountains helps us a lot in this scenario because there’s not raining coming from the Gulf. It’s across the mountains and they break up these storms a lot.
“And if it’s a 50-50 chance, that’s not so bad, because I’m an optimist because that means it’s a 50 percent it’s going to happen.”
Jamey Caudill posted to Facebook that he’s already withdrawing from the race due to weather concerns. At the same event on Wednesday, Peyton Sellers and Landon Huffman say they trust Campbell to take care of the racers to the best of his ability.
“I believe in Clay and know he’ll make the right decision when it comes to that,” Huffman said. “He surrounds himself with a solid staff and rain is not a new factor to them. We deal with it almost every single year here it seems like, unfortunately, so I know Clay will make the right call.
“If that means we unload and immediately have to race our way in, I’ll put on my suit and see what we got.”
Sellers says Campbell is good about looking at the big picture.
“We want to race because we’re racers, and we’ll do whatever it takes but they have to worry about the TV broadcast and making sure it’s safe for fans and sponsors,” Sellers said. “He’s also got to consider what other weekend makes sense.
“I would just say if it looks like it’s going to race all weekend, let’s cancel it. Let’s try to do the next day. They did that a couple of years ago, we got stuff in on Friday and they told us not to come back on Saturday and we raced on Sunday and it was a good time. It saved us some time, some money, and not wasting all day in the pit area.”
But Sellers really would like some practice.
“No practice is hard on the young drivers, for sure,” Sellers said. “We don’t get a lot of practice here as it is. I do want to make sure we get our travels right and I do think the more track time we get, the better the racing is going to be too, but I really think about those young drivers because we need them to be at their best racing around them too.”
Matt Weaver is the owner and founder of Short Track Scene. Weaver grew up in the sport, having raced himself before becoming a reporter in college at the University of South Alabama. He also has extensive experience covering NASCAR, IndyCar and Dirt Sprint Cars.
