The racing season continues to kickoff this weekend. The NTT IndyCar Series has a race in the California desert, while Formula 1 will be racing in DVR Theater. NASCAR will be back in Florida for three days of action.
NASCAR Homestead TV Schedule
- Craftsman Truck Series Practice: 3:35 p.m. ET Friday on FS2
- Craftsman Truck Series Qualifying: 4:05 p.m. ET Friday on FS2
- Craftsman Truck Series Baptist Health 200: 8 p.m. ET Friday on FOX
- Xfinity Series Practice: 10:35 a.m. ET Saturday on The CW App/The CW
- Xfinity Series Qualifying: 11:40 a.m. ET Saturday on The CW App/The CW
- NASCAR Cup Series Practice: 1:05 p.m. ET Saturday on Amazon Prime Video
- NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying: 2:10 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime Video
- Xfinity Series Hard Rock Bet 300: 4 p.m. ET on The CW
- NASCAR Cup Series Straight Talk Wireless 400: 3 p.m. ET on FS1
This weekend, NASCAR’s National-level series will all be at Homestead-Miami Speedway south of Miami. Unlike last weekend, there aren’t any other tracks close by that would allow drivers to further stretch their legs.
On-track activity for the NASCAR Cup Series will start with practice Saturday afternoon. Coverage is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime Video. Qualifying will follow shortly afterwards.
Coverage of the Straight Talk Wireless 400 will begin with NASCAR RaceDay at 1:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1. Race coverage will begin at 3 p.m. ET with the green flag around 3:15 p.m. ET.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series will be back as primary support to the Cup Series. Practice is scheduled for 10:35 a.m. ET Saturday morning. Coverage will begin at 10:30 a.m. ET on The CW App and The CW’s website. Some CW affiliates will also air the sessions live, but check your local listings to see if your affiliate is one of them.
Coverage of the Hard Rock Bet 300 will begin with NASCAR Countdown Live at 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday on The CW. Race coverage will start at 4 p.m. ET with the green flag around 4:10 p.m. ET.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series teams have the opening act in Homestead. For these teams, they have a one-day show on tap.
Practice is scheduled for 3:35 p.m. ET Friday afternoon. Coverage will air starting at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 2. Qualifying will follow shortly afterwards.
Coverage of the Baptist Health 200 will begin at 8 p.m. ET Friday night on FOX. Not all affiliates will carry the race, so please check your local listings for potential alternate channel assignments. If all else fails, you should be able to watch the race at FOXSports.com or the FOX Sports app.
Also note that Friday night will serve as FOX Sports’ annual Drivers Only broadcast. Kevin Harvick will be on play-by-play for the race with Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano alongside. Austin Cindric and Carson Hocevar will serve as pit reporters.
Finally, the ARCA Menards Series East schedule begins this weekend at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Fla. That will be a one-day show on Saturday.
Practice is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET Saturday afternoon, while qualifying will be at 5:30 p.m. ET. Neither session will be televised.
Coverage of the Pensacola 150 is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. ET Saturday night on FLORacing. The green flag will fall around 8:30 p.m. ET.
What’s the Weather Looking Like?
South Florida has been very dry recently. As a result, all of Miami-Dade County is currently under a Red Flag Warning due to the threat of grass fires. Fires are actively burning fairly close to the track.
WTVJ NBC 6 South Florida is reporting that the pond located behind the backstretch at the track is being used by helicopters fighting the fire. A stretch of U.S. 1 has been closed off and on to help aid the firefighting. As of now, everything appears to still be a go for this weekend. That said, grassy areas just south of the track are used by campers during Homestead-Miami race weekends. They may be forced to leave their sites. If anything changes, we will update you here at Frontstretch.
Friday’s weather looks decent. The forecast is for partly cloudy skies with a high of 75°. It’ll be in the 60s by the time the Truck race starts.
Saturday’s forecast is a little warmer. It calls for partly cloudy skies and a high of 79°.
Sunday will be the warmest day of the weekend with a high of 80°. However, there will be more clouds.
TV Ratings Update — Las Vegas
Sunday’s broadcast of the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube earned a 1.48 rating with 3.011 million viewers on FS1. This is the highest-rated Cup broadcast on FS1 since 2021. However, it was also down 38.3% in ratings and 31% in viewership from last year’s 2.4 rating and 4.359 million viewers. That race aired on FOX.
Saturday’s broadcast of The LiUNA! on The CW had a .6 rating with 1.08 million viewers. Ratings-wise, this is flat with last year, while viewership is up by 53,000 over last year on FS1.
Friday night’s broadcast of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Ecosave 200 has incomplete information. The only information that appears to be available right now indicates a .16 rating with 324,000 viewers. However, this only applies to a 23-minute stretch of the broadcast that coincides with the second rain delay — the Ecosave 200 had two rain delays that added up to over 75 minutes.
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.