This weekend, the quantity of racing on offer will be down a little with the major open wheel series being off. However, NASCAR is back with another tripleheader weekend while SRO America starts their 2025 season in Sonoma.
NASCAR Martinsville TV Schedule
- Craftsman Truck Series Practice: 2:05 p.m. ET Friday on FS2
- Craftsman Truck Series Qualifying: 3:10 p.m. ET Friday on FS2
- Xfinity Series Practice: 4:30 p.m. ET Friday on The CW App
- Xfinity Series Qualifying: 5:35 p.m. ET Friday on The CW App
- Craftsman Truck Series The Boys & Girls Club of the Blue Ridge 200: 7:30 p.m. ET Friday on FS1
- Cup Series Practice: 2 p.m. ET Saturday on Amazon Prime Video
- Cup Series Qualifying: 3:10 p.m. ET Saturday on Amazon Prime Video
- Xfinity Series Marine Corps 250: 5 p.m. ET Saturday on The CW
- Cup Series Cook Out 400: 3 p.m. ET Sunday on FS1
This weekend, NASCAR makes its first trip of the season to Martinsville in Henry County, Va. There will be three full days of action on the paperclip-shaped short track.
For NASCAR Cup Series teams, they’ll be loading into the garage in Martinsville on Saturday morning after the Truck teams leave (the entry time is so early in the morning that teams will make the drive the night before). Practice is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET and will air live on Amazon Prime Video. Qualifying will follow shortly afterwards.
Some affiliates of The CW will air practice and qualifying live on Friday. Check your local listings to see if your affiliate is choosing to do so.
Coverage of the Cook Out 400 will start with NASCAR RaceDay at 1:30 p.m. ET Sunday afternoon on FS1. Race coverage will start at 3 p.m. ET with the green flag around 3:15 p.m. ET.
For the NASCAR Xfinity Series, they will load into the garage early Friday. Practice is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. ET Friday afternoon and will stream live on The CW app and on The CW’s website. Qualifying will air shortly afterwards.
Coverage of the Marine Corps 250 will begin with NASCAR Countdown Live at 4:30 p.m. ET on The CW. Race coverage will begin at 5 p.m. ET with the green flag around 5:10 p.m. ET.
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will be back in action for a one-day show on Friday. Practice is scheduled to begin at 2:05 p.m. Coverage of the session will air live on FS2 starting at 2 p.m. ET. Qualifying will follow shortly afterwards.
Coverage of The Boys & Girls Club of the Blue Ridge 200 will begin at 7:30 p.m. ET Friday night on FS1. The green flag will fly around 7:50 p.m. ET.
What’s the Weather Looking Like for Martinsville?
For the first two days, it’s looking great. After that, not so much.
Friday’s forecast is for a mix of clouds and sun with a high of 75°. As the Truck race will be at night, the temperatures will fall through the 60s during the race.
Saturday’s forecast is for cloudy skies, but with next to no chance of rain. It’ll be around 75° for a high.
Sunday is where things will get interesting. High temperatures will be in the low-to-mid 70s. There is a chance of rain showers. How much of a chance of precipitation and when that rain shows up depends on what source you look at.
WFXR, the nearest FOX affiliate to Martinsville in Roanoke, is forecasting scattered showers in the morning and afternoon. WSET, the ABC affiliate for the region in Lynchburg, is forecasting scattered storms with temperatures in the mid-to-upper 70s. NBC affiliate WSLS 10 is predicting a 50% chance of showers and thunderstorms. CBS affiliate WDBJ 7 is predicting a 60% chance of rain Sunday.
With NASCAR and Goodyear’s work in recent years, this isn’t quite as dire of a forecast as it would have been in past years. NASCAR will have wet-weather tires on site in Martinsville this weekend and will use them under the right circumstances.
TV Ratings Update — Homestead
Sunday’s broadcast of the Straight Talk Wireless 400 from Homestead-Miami Speedway earned a 1.2 rating with 2.46 million viewers. As compared to last year, it is down in the Nielsens by one-tenth of a point. However, viewership is up by 116,000 viewers. This scenario is possible because more people were watching TV Sunday than they were during last year’s race.
Of note, this is not a direct comparison. Last year’s Homestead race was the third-to-last race of the season, airing on Oct. 27 against the NFL on NBC.
Saturday’s broadcast of the Xfinity Series Hard Rock Bet 300 earned a .6 rating with 1.16 million viewers. There is no comparison at all to last year because no ratings for last year’s race were ever released. As compared to 2023, the broadcast was up a minimum of .13 of a Nielsen point and up 316,000 viewers.
Friday night’s broadcast of the Baptist Health 200 on FOX earned a .54 rating with 906,000 viewers. Once again, there is no rating comparison since ratings for last year’s race on FS1 were never released. Compared to 2023, the rating nearly tripled, while viewership was up by 270%.
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.