Breaking down the weather forecast for United Rentals Work United 500 at Phoenix Raceway

NASCAR continues its run in the desert, following up last week’s Las Vegas trip with a quick pivot south to Arizona. The Cup Series and Xfinity Series will race this weekend at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona.

The weekend schedule gets started Friday afternoon with garage hours and then a Cup practice session. That’s followed on Saturday by garage time, Xfinity practice, Xfinity and Cup qualifying, and then the United Rentals 200 Xfinity Series race that afternoon at 2:30 p.m. local time (MT). Sunday will see the Cup Series run the United Rentals Work United 500 with the green flag dropping at 1:30 p.m. local time.

Below we’ll take a look at the weather projected for the Phoenix Raceway this weekend in Avondale, Arizona, with info courtesy of AccuWeather. The desert in March brings some great weather. It will be a nice warm day with no precipitation. There is a chance for some sizable wind gusts on Saturday, but all in all, it should be a temperate weekend for the drivers.

As always with the weather, forecasts are all tentative. All times listed are local for Phoenix (MT).

Friday, March 10

Hi 79°, Low 57°: Partly sunny, 1% chance of rain, 6-7 mph winds with 10-13 mph gusts

1 p.m. — Xfinity garage hours
1:30 p.m. — Cup garage hours
4:35 p.m. — Cup practice — FS2

Saturday, March 11

Hi 79°, Low 55°: Cloudy, 4% chance of rain, 7 mph winds with gusts 18-24 mph

7 a.m. — Cup garage hours
8:30 a.m. — Xfinity garage hours
10:35 a.m. — Xfinity practice — FS1
11:05 a.m. — Xfinity qualifying — FS1
12:05 p.m. — Cup qualifying — FS1
2:30 p.m. — Xfinity, United Rentals 200 — FS1

Sunday, March 12

Hi 83°, Low 52°: Mostly sunny, 6-7 mph winds with 17-18 mph gusts

10:30 a.m. — Cup garage hours
1:30 p.m. — Cup, United Rentals Work United 500 — FS1