So much for that experiment.
NASCAR is facing questions about their decision to move the Cup Series race at Watkins Glen from its traditional date in late summer to early May, after the weekend turned into a muddy mess before it even got started.
The move was announced last year when NASCAR unveiled their 2026 schedule, and immediately had fans questioning whether the weather in New York would be suitable to host a race this early in the year. The average temperature in Watkins Glen is a high of 66 in May compared to 77 in August, and May is historically one of the wettest months of the year with up to 5 inches of rain.
But at the time the change was announced, then-Cup Series race director Jusan Hamilton assured fans that the sport was confident things would be fine:
Spoiler alert: Things aren’t fine.
Earlier this week, Watkins Glen was soaked with nearly an inch of rain. And as fans began arriving at the track for this weekend’s slate of events, they were greeted with muddy campgrounds and temperatures dipping into the upper 30s at night.
Many fans had trouble getting to their campsites, and even the tractors sent out to pull them from the mud were getting stuck in the campground:
@emperyn mud pitt at WGI #wgi #nascar #watkinsgleninternational
And here’s a video of a truck getting stuck while trying to pull another truck out of the mud:
@april.e.m1 Watkins Glen, the first and second day. It’s a cold and muddy mess but we’re here for it! It sucks for those getting stuck, and for those who left..going to make the best of it and have a great time! Walked around for tech Day in the garage! #Nascar #Watkinsglen #fyp
It’s a mess.
In fact, things got so bad that the track eventually closed the campground for incoming fans and forced them to wait until this morning to give it another try.
I mean, if only somebody had thought about this last year, when everybody was warning NASCAR that this would happen. (To be clear, this isn’t on the track. They don’t get to pick their race date, and there’s no doubt they would have much preferred to keep their August date on the schedule).
And it seems NASCAR has already taken notice and decided that the new date is a one year experiment, because yesterday Watkins Glen announced that their race in 2027 will be moving back to September and will be a part of NASCAR’s Chase for the Championship.
It’s not yet known which race Watkins Glen will replace in the Chase, though it’s widely expected to be Kansas or Gateway. The move will also mean that there will be a road course in the Chase next year: This year’s postseason was originally set to feature the Charlotte Roval, but NASCAR announced back in January that the fall race at Charlotte Motor Speedway would be run on the oval for the first time since 2018.
I’m not sure why the move was made for the Watkins Glen date in the first place, but luckily it seems like it was just a one year experiment and NASCAR learned their lesson pretty early on. Luckily it seems like the weather is going to cooperate for the Go Bowling at the Glen on Sunday, but I hope the fans in the campgrounds packed their sweatshirts and mud boots for this one.
Off Watkins Glen camping group pic.twitter.com/4Q5YGGnY0L
— Josh Irwin (@jtrip12) May 7, 2026
@deznmikesnascarlife MUD FEST 2026🤣 #watkinsglen #nascar #nascartiktok #fypシ #racetrack @Grilled Cheese @SunnieNascarsYorkie
