Just days away from the much anticipated Chevy Rock and Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway, all eyes appear to be focused on Tropical Storm Hanna as it churns off the coast of the Bahamas.

Meteorologists predict the storm will make landfall somewhere around Charleston, S.C. either late Friday or early Saturday. As the storm swirled Wednesday, tropical-storm force winds were reaching as far as 290 miles north of the storm's center. According to The Weather Channel, Hanna will race over Richmond International Raceway (RIR) sometime Saturday night.

Amy Turner, Director of Public Relations for Richmond International Raceway, explained both the speedway and NASCAR are keeping a close eye on the radar.

"Given the projected path of Tropical Storm Hanna, we are working closely with NASCAR, as well as state and local government officials to monitor the path and potential impact of the storm," Turner explained in a statement Wednesday. "As always, the safety of our fans, competitors and the local community is of the utmost importance to Richmond International Raceway. This weekend's events are currently scheduled to run as planned but we will provide updates at www.rir.com and 877-251-7223, as to their status at least twice daily, or as needed."

"Certainly we're looking at the weather very, very close, as we do every weekend. In particular this weekend with the storm moving up the coast line," Kerry Tharp, Director of Communication - Competition for NASCAR told HardcoreRaceFans.com. "In the event that inclement weather would cancel the race or postpone the race on Saturday night, we would plan on racing early Sunday afternoon."

With this weekend being one of the most important dates on the series schedule, a complete wash-out could throw a wrench in NASCAR's plans. The one thing going for not only NASCAR and RIR, but also the fans and the drivers is the race is scheduled for Saturday night. This gives NASCAR and track officials two additional days to complete this event before rescheduling the date.

In 2001, in respect of the victims of the terrorist attacks on September 11, NASCAR chose to cancel the New Hampshire race and move it to the final race of the season. A much different scenario, if inclement weather continues all weekend NASCAR may find themselves in a similar situation.

"We're hopeful there will be an ample window to get this race in this weekend," Tharp went on to say. "We really wouldn't know until this weekend what the different scenarios would be based upon the weather to get the race in," Tharp explained. "At this point we're just day-to-day and decisions like that would not be made until the weekend when we're able to see what the weather is shaping up to be." That decision would come directly from the top, as NASCAR executives would have final say. As things look right now, Saturday night's race is a long shot. Depending on how the storm develops over the next two days, things could change drastically or the storm could simply skirt by. Either way, NASCAR will be in Richmond and so will hordes of loyal Hardcore Race Fans.

Fans who have purchased ticket insurance and have any questions can call World Access at 800-628-6188. Be sure to check back to   HardcoreRaceFans.com for all of the latest news and updates from Richmond this weekend.