NASCAR Las Vegas Weather: Will Wind and Dust Impact the Race in Repeat of 2016?

It seems like Mother Nature isn’t happy with the 2024 NASCAR schedule. The first two races of the season had to be rescheduled due to inclement weather. Thankfully, the Ambetter Health 400 stayed away from any drama. However, as the Pennzoil 400 approaches, the fans are quite bummed out to know that gusts of wind could potentially stir up the race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

According to weather.com the forecast for LVMS shows a cool 59° with somewhat cloudy skies on Sunday. The temperature for Saturday could be the same but the day is expected to be super windy. We are talking gusts of wind over 50 mph. The good news is that Sunday expects a clear sky with the winds coming down to 5-10 mph.

Veteran FOX Sports journalist Bob Pockrass wrote, “Wind certainly will impact the cars. Obviously can cause additional debris on the track. only other issue I would think if there is a lot of dust and it impacts ability to see (as there was several years ago at Las Vegas).”

wind certainly will impact the cars. obviously can cause additional debris on the track. only other issue I would think if there is a lot of dust and it impacts ability to see (as there was several years ago at las vegas). https://t.co/OxcjvzrXlV

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) March 1, 2024

Nevertheless, what happened several years ago that Pockrass mentioned in his post?

On a windy day, ft. the 2016 Kobalt 400

Although it was expected for huge gushes of wind to turn the race into an utter anomaly, the opening laps showed no signs of the ensuing weather. Even 4X Cup Series champion and the current Hendrick Motorsports Vice Chairman, Jeff Gordon, said, “No sign of these winds upsetting the race cars.” But it wasn’t long till they did.

Just as the day rolled into noon, and the race came down to the final 100 laps, a huge cloud of dust gathered around the track, delaying the green flag by several minutes. However luckily, it didn’t stay long, and soon, by the time Brad Keselowski bagged the win, a jubilant sunshine smiled at everyone on and around the track.

Brad Keselowski defeated a fast-charging Kyle Busch with five laps to go and that too by a remarkable 0.675-second gap. Extremely close behind were second-place finisher Joey Logano and P3 finisher Jeff Gordon. Sadly, Busch’s day was marred by an issue with his right front tire with just 10 laps to go. But for Keselowski, it was his second career victory at the 1.5-mile oval.