Since Watkins Glen returned to the NASCAR Cup Series schedule in 1986 its race has always been in August, except for one season when it was in early September, but in 2026 it’s in May 10 and many fans believe that’s too early for New York’s Finger Lakes Region.
However, NASCAR executive Jusan Hamilton, an Ithaca, New York, native, disagrees.
“We look at a lot of data at all our venues, and weather is always certainly a consideration,” said Hamilton, NASCAR’s managing director of competition operations. “You look at that time of the year, it says on average lower 70s during the day, chance of rain is relatively low even compared to August. Being up there recently in May, still have folks that live in that area, it typically feels like summer in May. I don’t see a huge risk in having the race that time of year.”
This year, according to Accuweather, the high temperature at Watkins Glen on May 10 was a comfortable 72 degrees with a night-time low of 35. One day earlier, on May 9, the high was 46. This year, the Watkins Glen race was August 10 (high temperature that day was 91).
Definitely sounds like a roll of the dice.
Hamilton also noted the sport could reach a fan demographic in May that’s normally not in the area during August.
“School is still in session, the population of central New York is much higher that time of year, so you have the opportunity to potentially reach a fan demographic up there that’s typically not around during the summer,” Hamilton said.
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