Will it rain for Saturday’s Sprint All-Star Race?

Rain could wash out the races at Charlotte Motor Speedway Friday night, but it’s too early to know whether more showers will show up for Saturday night’s Sprint All-Star Race, a National Weather Service meteorologist said.

“Certainly, it’s going to be tough to get the races in tonight,” meteorologist Chris Horne of the NWS office in Greer, S.C., said Friday morning.

But forecasters won’t know until Saturday morning whether showers that are expected to redevelop across Western North Carolina after 3 p.m. Saturday will reach the Charlotte area and the Concord track, he said.

“Whether they will affect Charlotte is debatable,” he said.

More certain is that Friday morning’s drizzle will gradually turn into heavier, more widespread rain in the Charlotte metro area by Friday night, he said.

Truck series qualifying is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., the Sprint Showdown for 7 p.m. and the N.C. Education Lottery 200 Truck series race for 8:30 p.m.

The Charlotte area has a 60 percent chance of rain before noon Friday, with showers likely after 4 p.m., according to the weather service; 1/10- to 1/4-inch of rain could fall.

Friday night has a 100 percent chance of showers, with another 1/2- to 3/4-inch of rain possible.

Saturday morning should look much like Friday morning and its light rain, Horne said.

Saturday could even see sunshine, he said, before more showers appear in Western North Carolina in the afternoon and evening.

This story was originally published May 20, 2016 at 8:25 AM with the headline "Will it rain for Saturday’s Sprint All-Star Race?."