(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)
This weekend is a little more relaxing in the world of NASCAR as points are eschewed in the NASCAR Cup Series. Big bucks are still on the line, though.
Where to Watch NASCAR This Weekend
This weekend is All-Star Weekend for the NASCAR Cup Series. For the second year in a row, those All-Star festivities will be at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Carolina.
For the NASCAR Cup Series, the racing action will start Saturday with Heat Races. Coverage of the heats will air live on FOX Sports 2 at 5 p.m. ET Saturday.
Sunday’s coverage will start with the NASCAR All-Star Open at 5 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1. That will be followed by a one-hour edition of NASCAR RaceDay at 7 p.m. ET, then the 200-lap All-Star Race at 8 p.m. ET.
The NASCAR Cup Series will be joined in North Wilkesboro by the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Coverage of the Wright Brand 250 will begin with NASCAR RaceDay – NCTS Edition at 1 p.m. ET Saturday afternoon on FS1. Race coverage begins at 1:30 p.m. ET with the green flying around 1:40 p.m. ET.
Where to Watch Other Racing Series This Weekend
For the NTT IndyCar Series, the Month of May is truly underway with practice struggling to get in this week due to rain. Saturday and Sunday will see qualifications for the Indianapolis 500. The full field will try to qualify Saturday starting at 11 a.m. ET. The entire session will be live on Peaco*ck.
Sunday will have additional qualifications starting at 3 p.m. ET. The session will air live on NBC and include the Firestone Fast 9 and the Last Row session. If rain impedes Saturday’s action, it is possible that additional qualifications to fill the field could happen on Sunday.
Formula 1 will return to the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Italy for the Grand Prix of Emilia-Romagna. Coverage from Imola Sunday will start with Formula 1: Grand Prix Sunday at 7:30 a.m. ET on ESPN2. Race coverage will begin at 8:55 a.m. ET with the formation lap at 9 a.m. ET.
ARCA Menards Series East teams will be racing Saturday night at the “Level Pebble,” Michigan’s Flat Rock Speedway. Coverage of the Dutch Boy 150 from Flat Rock will start at 7:30 p.m. ET on FLORacing.
SRO America will be at Circuit of the Americas for their third full race weekend of the season. Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS races are scheduled for 1:30 p.m. ET Saturday and 3:15 p.m. ET Sunday. GT America powered by AWS races are at 4:25 p.m. ET Saturday and 10:35 a.m. ET Sunday. TC America powered by Skip Barber Racing School races are at 11:50 a.m. ET Saturday and 11:35 a.m. ET Sunday. Finally, Pirelli GT4 America SprintX has one three-hour endurance race that will be at 6 p.m. ET Saturday. All seven of these races will be streamed live on the GT World YouTube channel.
World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series teams will make their first visit of the year to Attica Raceway Park Friday night. Action from Attica will start at 5:30 p.m. ET on DirtVision.
Kubota High Limit Sprint Car Series teams will be at Utica-Rome Speedway in Vernon, N.Y. for the Double Down at Utica-Rome Friday night. Action will start at 6:15 p.m. ET on FLORacing.
For more TV listings, please check out our TV listings page. It is updated every day with all kinds of listings from over-the-air television, cable networks, streaming services and more.
NASCAR TV Ratings Check — Darlington, Indianapolis
Sunday’s broadcast of the NASCAR Cup Series Goodyear 400 from Darlington earned a 1.4 rating with 2.632 million viewers. This is flat ratings-wise with last year’s event. Viewership was down by 57,000.
Saturday’s broadcast of the NASCAR Xfinity Series Crown Royal Purple Bag Project 200 earned a .48 rating with 782,000 viewers. That is down significantly from last year’s event that had a .74 rating with 1.271 million viewers. However, last year’s race was on FOX while Saturday’s race was on FS1.
Friday night’s broadcast of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Buckle Up South Carolina 200 had 310,000 viewers. This was down more than 35% from 2023. As you likely know by now, the start of the race was delayed from around 7:40 p.m. ET to after 10 p.m. ET due to rain. The race finished after Midnight ET for those in the Eastern time zone. Also of note, a Nielsen rating for the broadcast is currently unavailable.
Saturday’s broadcast of the NTT IndyCar Series Sonsio Grand Prix scored a .52 rating with 875,000 viewers. That is up 13% from last year. Viewership was up by 160,000 viewers.
Sunday’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Motul Course de Monterey earned a .26 rating with 436,000 viewers on NBC. This is down from last year, when the race had a .31 rating with 482,000 viewers.
About the author
Phil Allaway
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor.
Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.
Phil Allaway
https://frontstretch.com/author/phila/
Couch Potato Tuesday: Pocono Throws Up a Dud
Phil Allaway
https://frontstretch.com/author/phila/
Nick Boulle, Tom Dillmann Win Chevrolet Grand Prix
Phil Allaway
https://frontstretch.com/author/phila/
PJ Hyett Wins Chevrolet Grand Prix Pole
Phil Allaway
https://frontstretch.com/author/phila/
Trent Hindman, Stevan McAleer Win CTMP 120
Sign up for the Frontstretch Newsletter
A daily email update (Monday through Friday) providing racing news, commentary, features, and information from Frontstretch.com
We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else.
