This weekend, as local racing seasons begin to start up, NASCAR has its annual Throwback Weekend at Darlington Raceway. Meanwhile, Formula 1 will be at Suzuka Circuit in Japan.
NASCAR Darlington TV Schedule
- Xfinity Series Practice: 10:05 a.m. ET Saturday on The CW App
- Xfinity Series Qualifying: 11:10 a.m. ET Saturday on The CW App
- NASCAR Cup Series Practice: 12:35 p.m. ET Saturday on Amazon Prime Video
- NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying: 1:40 p.m. ET Saturday on Amazon Prime Video
- Xfinity Series Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200: 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday on The CW
- NASCAR Cup Series Goodyear 400: 3 p.m. ET Sunday on FS1
Darlington is going to be a quieter weekend with the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series taking the week off. Friday is a full day of work for Xfinity Series teams, while Cup teams will enter the garage and park Friday afternoon.
NASCAR Cup Series teams scheduled to practice at 12:35 p.m. ET Saturday afternoon. Coverage will start at 12:30 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime Video. Qualifying will follow shortly afterwards.
Coverage of the Goodyear 400 will begin with NASCAR RaceDay at 2 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.
For the NASCAR Xfinity Series, there’s only one day of on-track activity, that being Saturday. Coverage of practice will begin at 10 a.m. ET on The CW App and on The CW’s website. Qualifying will follow shortly afterwards.
As always, there will be some CW affiliates that will air practice and qualifying as well. Check your local listings to see if your affiliate will be airing that coverage.
Coverage of the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 will begin with NASCAR Countdown Live at 3 p.m. ET on The CW. Race coverage will begin at 3:30 p.m. ET with the green flag at 3:40 p.m. ET.
In the world of ARCA, ARCA Menards Series West teams will be at Tucson Speedway for the first time since 2019. Teams will roll into the three-eighths of a mile oval Friday and practice starting at 10 p.m. ET.
A second practice session is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET Saturday. Qualifying is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET. This will not be televised.
Coverage of the ARCA Menards Series 150 presented by the West Coast Stock Motorsports Hall of Fame is scheduled to start at 9:45 p.m. ET Saturday night on FLORacing. The green flag will shortly after 10 p.m. ET.
What’s the Weather Looking Like?
Unfortunately, Darlington Raceway is located rather far from local TV affiliates. Most of them for that particular region are focused in on the Myrtle Beach area, which is right on the coast. Most of the temperatures you’ll see on their forecasts are based on the coastal region.
Friday has no on-track activity. However, there will be teams hard at work in the garages. They’ll have warm and humid weather to contend with. The high is forecast to be 87° with a 25% chance of rain.
Saturday will be drier but still very warm. The forecast calls for sunny skies and a high close to 90°. Make sure to hydrate if you go.
Sunday is similar to Saturday. Partly cloudy skies and a high around 91°. There is a 20% chance of rain, which is better than it was earlier this week. The hydration statement remains in effect as this is record warmth for early April in Darlington.
If adverse weather shows up Sunday, NASCAR will work like heck to get the race in. Monday’s forecast is pretty terrible with soaking rain for most of the day.
If you’re going to check out the ARCA action in Tucson Saturday, the forecast for Saturday is for sunny skies with a high of 72°. Given the start time, it will likely be in the 60s during the event.
TV Ratings Update — Martinsville
For the most part, ratings from the Paperclip were positive. Sunday’s Cook Out 400 earned a 1.3 rating with 2.422 million viewers. That is up by .1 of a point and 231,000 viewers (10.5%) from last year.
Saturday’s broadcast of the Xfinity Series Marine Corps 250 earned a .6 rating with 1.014 million viewers. This is the lowest viewership of the year for the Xfinity Series, but it’s up pretty significantly from last year. In 2024, this race aired a week later but had a .49 rating with 852,000 viewers.
On the other hand, FS1’s broadcast of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Boys & Girls Clubs of the Blue Ridge 200 Friday night earned a .25 rating with 470,000 viewers. That is down by .02 of a ratings point and 24,000 viewers from last year.
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.