This weekend will be another busy one. Formula 1 will be in action in Mexico City, where big crowds are expected. Meanwhile, NASCAR returns to South Florida to race at Homestead-Miami Speedway as part of the Round of 8.
Where to Watch NASCAR This Week
Homestead-Miami Speedway hosted Championship Weekend for all three of NASCAR’s National-level series from 2002 to 2019. I personally covered the last five of those for Frontstretch. At Homestead today, you have worn pavement that dates back to when the track’s current configuration was created, good racing and a lot of skill is required to run well. In other words, paradise for someone like Kyle Larson.
This will be the last Homestead NASCAR race weekend in October. Next year, the race will move to March ahead of potential changes to the facility for 2026 and beyond.
The NASCAR Cup Series will be the headlining series once again. Teams will arrive, load in and work on Friday.
On-track activity starts with practice at 9:05 a.m. ET Saturday morning. The session will be streamed live on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports App. Qualifying will follow shortly afterwards.
Coverage of the Straight Talk Wireless 400 will begin with Countdown to Green at 2 p.m. ET Sunday afternoon on NBC. Race coverage will begin at 2:30 p.m. ET with the green flag at 2:40 p.m. ET.
The weather forecast for Sunday looks pretty good. The consensus appears to be partly cloudy skies with a high of 83 degrees with a low chance of showers, possibly early in the day.
Saturday is a doubleheader in Homestead. That will start with the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, which returns after taking the last couple of weeks off.
Practice for the truck teams is scheduled for 2:35 p.m. ET Friday afternoon. Qualifying will follow shortly afterwards. Neither session will be televised. FOX Sports 2 will be televising thoroughbred racing during the sessions.
Coverage of the Baptist Health 200 will begin at Noon ET on FOX Sports 1 Saturday. The green flag is scheduled for 12:15 p.m. ET.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series has the second half of the doubleheader. They will also practice Friday starting at 4:05 p.m. ET. The session may be delayed slightly if truck qualifying goes long. The session will stream live on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports App. Qualifying will follow shortly afterwards.
Coverage of the Credit One NASCAR Ames Credit Card 300 will start off with NASCAR Countdown Live at 3:30 p.m. ET on The CW. Race coverage starts at 4 p.m. ET with the green flag at 4:10 p.m. ET.
Once again, we will make sure that all of the TV markets will be airing the race. If any pre-emptions or local channel changes are necessary, we will make of them both here and in the TV Schedule page.
Weather-wise, the forecast is similar to Sunday, but a little warmer. The consensus here is a high of 84° with partly cloudy skies and a 10-20% chance of rain. It will likely be a little more humid than Sunday.
ARCA Menards Series West teams will be at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway Saturday night for their penultimate race of the season. Ostensibly, it’s a one-day show, but teams are allowed to park Friday.
Practice is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET Saturday, while qualifying is at 8 p.m. ET. Neither session will be televised.
Coverage of the NAPA Auto Parts 150 presented by the West Coast Stock Car Motorsports Hall of Fame is scheduled to begin at 11 p.m. ET Saturday night. The green flag is scheduled for 11:15 p.m. ET.
The weather forecast for Saturday in Kern County is for sunny skies and a high around 80°. Since this will be a night race, it will likely be around 70° by the time the race starts.
TV Ratings Check — Las Vegas
A Nielsen rating is not available for Sunday’s South Point 400, but the race did have 2.3 million viewers for Joey Logano’s victory via fuel mileage. That is up by 106,000 viewers (4.8%) over last year’s race.
For Saturday night’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Ambetter Health 302, the race earned a .44 rating with 755,000 viewers. That is down 4% in ratings and 6.7% in viewership from last year’s broadcast. That race earned a .46 rating with 810,000 viewers.
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.