For a July 1:10 PM day game at CarMax Park, the sun sits 74° up in the south at first pitch, so shade means getting under the grandstand roof or the deck above you. Sunset is 8:30 PM local, so an evening game gets real shade as the sun drops. By 7:05 PM the sun is only 15° up in the west, 86 minutes from setting.
Check the sun for YOUR game →We haven't verified which way CarMax Park faces yet, so we won't pretend to name the shady sections. A seating map pointed the wrong way is worse than no map. What's above is real: the sun's exact position for this park's coordinates and timezone. On the interactive page you get the live sun compass, sunset against your game's real start time, and the hour-by-hour forecast.
Sun & sunset check for CarMax Park · Satellite shadow view
Double-A baseball in Richmond means the Flying Squirrels, the San Francisco Giants' affiliate, and it means Virginia summer, long, warm, and humid enough that the sun question is worth settling before you pick seats at CarMax Park. Here is the straightforward version of what we know.
In high summer, a 1:10 PM day game at CarMax Park starts with the sun 74 degrees above the horizon, almost due south. That is nearly overhead, at that angle, shade comes only from something directly above your seat, like a roof or overhang, not from the stands themselves. The sun stays punishing through the early and middle innings of any afternoon game and only relents as it slides west. By 7 PM it is down to 15 degrees in the west-northwest, essentially skimming the horizon, and midsummer sunset in Richmond comes at 8:30 PM. An evening game therefore spends its first hour with low sun in the sky and the rest in dusk and darkness.
We have not verified which way CarMax Park faces, so we are not going to name a first-base side or a third-base side as the shady one, at a park we haven't mapped, that would be a guess dressed up as advice. The general rule for minor-league parks still helps: they are built low, with one main seating bowl and limited overhead structure, so covered rows are scarce and the back of the grandstand is usually a better bet than the front. For the definitive answer, pull up the interactive shade map and check the satellite shadow view for your game date and time, the real shadows on the imagery will show you which sections are covered without anyone guessing.
Richmond summer afternoons are hot and sticky, so a day game at CarMax Park calls for the full kit: sunscreen applied before the anthem, a brimmed hat, and water throughout, the humidity makes the sun feel heavier than the thermometer suggests. Families with kids should hunt for covered rows or plan concourse breaks around the middle innings. Night games are the easy recommendation: by the time the low western sun fades, a summer evening at the ballpark is one of the more pleasant things Richmond offers, and the late innings play out under the lights in genuinely comfortable air. If you have the choice and shade is the priority, take the evening start and let the 8:30 PM sunset do the work for you.
Upcoming events at CarMax Park are ticketed on TixBit.