NASCAR 2022 at Martinsville: Weather forecast for Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 at Martinsville Speedway.

On Saturday 9th, all roads lead to Martinsville for NASCAR’s Cup Series race, the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 at Martinsville Speedway. It will mark NASCAR’s second short-track race of the season after a successful event at Richmond Raceway.

Martinsville Speedway is one of the most iconic tracks in NASCAR’s history having opened in 1947 and hosted its inaugural race in 1949. Blue-Emu took over the event's naming rights in 2020.

The race was known as the STP 500 from 2014 to 2019, though it has been renamed several times over the years. Blue-Emu will be marking its third race in the Cup Series.

The 0.526 mile paper-clip-shaped oval track will feature 400 laps, similar to what we saw in Richmond. During the last year’s event, though, the race featured 500 laps.

Being an oval track, weather will play a huge role in the scheduling of the event, since any harsh weather will lead to either a delay or postponement of the race. Below is the weather forecast for Martinsville Speedway.

Saturday, April 9th, is expected to experience a mix of clouds and sun in the morning hours and cloudy during the day hours, with a high of 54°C with Winds at 10-15 mph. The day will also experience a low of 33°C with Winds at 5-10 mph.

While posting the race's full schedule, Bob Pockrass updated the weather for the weekend on his Twitter account. He stated that:

"NWS:Thu-Temps 50-60s, 20%rain in p.m.; Fri night: 50s-high40s, 30%rain; Sat night: 40s, 10%rain."

How rain ruined the NASCAR Series at Martinsville Speedway in 2021

Looking at the forecast, the weather seems to be favorable compared to last year, where NASCAR had a long weekend due to heavy rain. During the April 2021 race at Martinsville, rain ruined the day when Xfinity Series had only completed 91 laps.

As a result of heavy rains, the race was rescheduled from Friday to Sunday. The Cup Series, which was also scheduled to race on Saturday, ended up being pushed to Sunday after completing only 42 laps before being interrupted by rain.

The two races were completed on Sunday, with Xfinity starting on lap 93 while Cup series began on lap 43. Martin Truex Jr. ended up as the winner of the event, taking his second consecutive win at Martinsville Speedway.