The offseason is officially over as NASCAR truly gets their 2025 season underway. With the exception of the Asian Le Mans Series, which wraps up their 2024-25 season in Abu Dhabi this weekend, the racing world is focused on Volusia County, Fla.
Volusia Speedway Park has the Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals, while New Smyrna Speedway has the World Series of Asphalt. Both pale in comparison to Speedweek in Daytona.
Where to Watch NASCAR This Weekend
Daytona International Speedway will be hosting a sextet of races this week where there will be a lot of side-by-side action. Your stomach will churn at times. There’s also a chance of a lot of equipment getting damaged. Hopefully, not too much of that goes down.
For the NASCAR Cup Series, on-track action will begin with practice Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. ET. That session will air live on FOX Sports 1 and is a return of sorts since the last few years have seen no practice prior to the Duels. Pole qualifying, which will set the front row for the Daytona 500 and the grid for the Duels will be at 8 p.m. ET, also televised on FS1.
In between practice and qualifying is Daytona 500 Media Day. Our own Dalton Hopkins will be talking to a number of drivers about this weekend and the upcoming season. Stay tuned for videos from Media Day on our YouTube channel.
Coverage of the Duels at Daytona will begin with NASCAR RaceDay at 6 p.m. ET Thursday on FS1. Race coverage is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. ET with the green flag for the first 60-lap Duel around 7:10 p.m. ET.
Friday will see the 40 (or 41, depending on what happens to Helio Castroneves) teams that will race Sunday practice for 50 minutes starting at 5:30 p.m. ET. That session will air live on FS1. Saturday has Happy Hour, the final chance to prepare. That will air live at 3 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 2.
Coverage of the Daytona 500 Sunday will begin early in the day. If you live in a market with a local affiliate owned or operated by the Nexstar Media Group, there may be a pre-pre-race show called Countdown to Daytona that will air live at 11:30 a.m. ET. Check your local listings for availability.
FOX’s coverage will begin with a special two-hour edition of NASCAR RaceDay. The original plan was to start pre-race at 12:30 p.m. ET. However, the weather forecast has forced NASCAR to make a change.
NEWS: The start time for the #DAYTONA500 has been moved up to 1:30 p.m. ET on Sunday.
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 14, 2025
Watch The Great American Race on FOX or listen on @MRNRadio and @SiriusXMNASCAR Radio. pic.twitter.com/Mk2UE2MrOM
With this change, NASCAR RaceDay will now begin at 11:30 a.m. ET on FOX. Race coverage will begin at 1:30 p.m. ET, while the race will go green around 1:50 p.m. ET. It is unclear what will happen with the pre-pre-race show.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series will start their new era with The CW this weekend in Daytona. On-track activity will begin with practice Friday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. ET. That session will stream live on The CW App and cw.com. Qualifying will be Saturday morning at 10 a.m. ET.
Coverage of the United Rentals 300 will begin with NASCAR Countdown Live at 4 p.m. ET on The CW, after the conclusion of Daytona 500 Happy Hour. Race coverage will start at 5 p.m. ET with the race going green around 5:10 p.m. ET.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series teams are scheduled to pull into the garage Thursday morning and practice at 5 p.m. ET. That session will air live on FS1. Qualifying is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET Friday afternoon and will also air on FS1.
Coverage of the Fresh From Florida 250 will begin at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1. There is no pre-race coverage scheduled. The green flag will fly around 7:50 p.m. ET.
Finally, we have the ARCA Menards Series, which has the largest car count of the weekend with 47 teams entered. They are currently scheduled to pull into the garage area Wednesday afternoon.
Practice will be held Thursday afternoon at 4:05 p.m. ET. Qualifying, which will be done in groups, is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. ET Friday afternoon. Neither session will be televised.
Coverage of the Chili’s Ride the ‘Dente 200 is scheduled to air at Noon ET Saturday on FOX. ARCA’s website indicates that the race will start shortly after the broadcast begins. Check your local listings to see if your FOX affiliate will air the race. If not, then it would air on FOXSports.com.
What’s The Weather Looking Like?
Wednesday looks great with sunny skies and a high of 82°, although it’ll be much cooler by the time qualifying comes around. There is effectively no chance of rain, but there is a Dense Fog Advisory for Daytona Beach in effect until 9 a.m. ET. If the fog is extra pesky, it could delay the start of practice.
Thursday is not the greatest. Highs are forecast to be in the low 80s. However, there is a 65% chance of rain in the late afternoon to early evening. If the precipitation is substantial, it could delay the start of the Duels and wreak havoc with on-track action for the Trucks and ARCA.
Friday’s forecast is not great. It currently calls for cloudy skies with a high of 75° with an 88% change of rain. Thunderstorms are also possible in the afternoon.
Saturday looks much better with partly cloudy skies and a high of 81°. There is a very low chance of rain.
Sadly, Sunday will be tricky. There is a cold front that will swing through Florida, bringing rain. Currently, there is a 60% chance of rain around the scheduled green flag. There is a reasonable possibility that the start could be delayed. The high temperature will be around 80° before the front sweeps through, but bring your rain gear if you’re going.
Granted, we’re a few days out, but if that forecast comes to pass, it would continue a recent trend. Three of the last five Daytona 500s have been heavily delayed by rain. Last year’s race was completely wiped out and ran on Monday. 2020’s race was stopped after 20 laps and continued Monday. The 2021 race was completed on Sunday, but delayed for five hours due to rain and lightning.
TV Ratings Check — Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray
FOX’s broadcast of the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray earned a 1.55 rating with 3.077 million viewers on Feb. 2. That is up 93.7% in ratings and up 103.6% in viewership over last year’s Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum.
However, last year’s Clash is not really a fair comparison. That race was moved up from Sunday to a Saturday night race at the last minute due to the Pineapple Express setting up over the Pacific Ocean in such a way that Southern California was going to get drenched with enough continuous rain that NASCAR would have had to postpone the race for three days. The broadcast was down 22.9% in ratings and 16.6% in viewership over 2023, when the race ran without issue.
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.