Updated NASCAR weather for Talladega is very promising as of Sunday morning.
Earlier this week, the forecast was much more bleak with rain expected throughout the morning and into the afternoon.
However, the latest NASCAR weather forecast has dried out considerably, so much so that there's reason for optimism regarding Sunday's GEICO 500 (3 p.m. ET, FOX) going the full 500-mile distance.
Let's take a look as the current weather report for Talladega, Ala.
NASCAR Weather for Talladega
The biggest issue for NASCAR, should rain fall, is the sheer size of Talladega Superspeedway.
As one can imagine, it takes a long time — multiple hours, in fact — to dry a track that's 2.66 miles in length.
Further, Talladega doesn't have lights, so the window to get Sunday's race completed is smaller than most other tracks.
According to the National Weather Service, there's a 53% chance of rain until 10 a.m. ET in Talladega.
That percentage drops to 31% at 11 a.m. ET and to just 9% at 2 p.m. ET, which is about one hour before today's scheduled start.
To sum this up, the current NASCAR weather forecast indicates that we'll see the full 188 laps this afternoon at Talladega.
For those wondering, Sunday's GEICO 500 will be official at the half-way mark, which is the completion of lap 94, should rain delay today's race.
According to updated NASCAR odds, Joey Logano (+900) is the race favorite, followed by Ryan Blaney (+1000), Brad Keselowski (+1000), Denny Hamlin (+1200) and William Byron (+1200) at FanDuel Sportsbook.
And for anyone interested, here is a low-risk, high-reward NASCAR pick with value for Sunday's race at Talladega.
