The Dollar Tree 301 is going green on wet-weather tires, and every car in the Cup Series field is starting the race that way. Rain fell heavily enough that the green flag was being held back, delaying the start time, but by 2:42 p.m. track dryers were moving standing water off the oval, though teams had yet to remove the covers from their witting cars.
Carson Hocevar spun out during a pace lap, leading NASCAR to pull all of the cars off the track and into the pit lane as race officials waited for the rain to clear. “It’s a little slick off 4,” Hocevar was heard saying over his radio after going around.
“I get the impression NASCAR really wanted to go for it there, despite that not being their standard operating procedure, until the 77 spun,” wrote Motorsports senior NASCAR editor Matt Weaver. “Everyone’s radio was full of conversation about NASCAR saying they wanted to go and teams (mostly) thinking it was a little bold of them.”
In addition, the newly developed wet weather tire technology doesn’t solve the problem of visibility. Even with tires gripping the wet track, drivers still may not be able to see properly, another reason that NASCAR held back the green flag.
NASCAR confirmed Sunday’s field will grid on Goodyear’s treaded wet-weather compound rather than the usual dry-weather slicks, according to Jayski’s live race coverage from New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Rain fell across the track around 11:35 a.m. ET, easing to a light sprinkle by 12:30 p.m., and officials chose not to wait out a fully dry surface before sending cars to the grid.
That plan can still shift. NASCAR left itself room to reassess if the track dries out enough before the green flag actually drops, and Sunday’s start had already been moved up an hour, to 2:10 p.m. ET, to squeeze in as much daylight as possible at a track with no lights.
What Starting on Wet-Weather Tires Means
Goodyear’s wet-weather tire is a lightly treaded damp/intermediate compound, not a full rain tire built for standing water or sustained downpours, according to Goodyear’s tire notes for the weekend. Teams each have four sets available, and NASCAR typically controls when cars can switch away from them.
Lap times slow. Grip disappears. Drivers hunt for traction in multi-wide packs while braking points and throttle inputs get reworked on the fly, based on preview reporting from NASCAR.com. Pit road itself can stay damp long enough to force non-competitive stops before the real strategy even begins.
NASCAR has also set an adverse-conditions cutoff of 7:05 p.m. ET. If the Dollar Tree 301 isn’t finished by then, officials will display two laps to go the next time the leader crosses the line and end the race on the spot.
Christopher Bell’s 2024 Blueprint
New Hampshire has run this exact playbook before. Christopher Bell won the 2024 race at the Magic Mile after the field switched to wet-weather tires, starting fourth, leading 149 laps and running every circuit inside the top 15, according to statistics attributed to NASCAR.com’s recap of that race.
Ryan Blaney’s day looked nothing like it. He finished 25th in that same 2024 wet-tire stretch, in a race where the field never returned to dry-weather slicks. The gap between those two finishes says everything about how much wet-tire comfort separates contenders from also-rans once the grip disappears.
Tyler Reddick starts from the pole with Josh Berry alongside him on the front row, and clean air matters more than usual on a track still shedding moisture. Crew chiefs carrying notes from that 2024 New Hampshire wet run — plus damp sessions at North Wilkesboro and Bowman Gray — walk in with a real edge on tire life and setup, according to NASCAR.com’s crew chief preview for the weekend.
Could a Delay Still Hit the Dollar Tree 301?
Yes. If the rain intensifies into standing water, reduced visibility or lightning, NASCAR will throw the red flag regardless of what tires are on the cars, according to a rain-delay explainer previously published by Heavy.com’s NASCAR desk. Wet-weather tires handle a damp track. They were never designed for a genuine downpour.
Sunday’s forecast carried rising precipitation chances through the afternoon, climbing well past the odds officials faced at the green flag. Any real spike in that rain would likely force a full stoppage while NASCAR waits out the worst of it or weighs whether wet tires alone can finish the job once the heaviest bands pass.
Why is NASCAR Dollar Tree 301 Starting in Rain? Will Race Be Delayed?