This weekend is going to be a busy time in motorsports. Kansas Speedway will host a tripleheader of racing. The NTT IndyCar Series will start a three-week stretch at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, while IMSA will be at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. The FIA World Endurance Championship will race for six hours Saturday at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. But let’s start off by diving into the NASCAR TV schedule this weekend.
NASCAR Kansas TV Schedule
- ARCA Menards Series Tide 150: 8 p.m. ET Friday on FS1
- NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Practice: 2 p.m. ET Saturday on FS2
- NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Qualifying: 3:10 p.m. ET Saturday on FS2
- NASCAR Cup Series Practice: 4:30 p.m. ET Saturday on Amazon Prime Video
- NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying: 5:40 p.m. ET Saturday on Amazon Prime Video
- NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Heart of Health Care 200: 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday on FS1
- NASCAR Cup Series AdventHealth 400: 3 p.m. ET Sunday on FS1
NASCAR Cup Series teams are scheduled to roll into Kansas on Friday, but will not enter the garage until Saturday morning. It will be a rather late start to the proceedings.
Practice is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. ET Saturday afternoon with live coverage on Amazon Prime Video. Qualifying will follow shortly afterwards.
Coverage of the AdventHealth 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.
With the NASCAR Xfinity Series off this weekend, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will serve as primary support. They will effectively have a one-day show on Saturday while Friday is mainly a setup and inspection day.
Practice is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. ET Saturday afternoon. Coverage of the session will begin at 2 p.m. ET and air live on FOX Sports 2. Qualifying will follow shortly afterwards.
Coverage of the Heart of Health Care 200 will begin at 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday night on FS1. The green flag will fly around 7:50 p.m. ET.
The third-tier series on the schedule this weekend is the ARCA Menards Series, back after taking the last couple of weeks off. Those teams are already set up in the garage, but all of their on-track activity will be Friday.
The series is holding a four-hour optional open practice session starting at 9:30 a.m. ET Friday. It is effectively a test session that doesn’t count towards the rest of the weekend, but it behooves the teams to not tear up their equipment.
The actual practice session for the weekend is 45 minutes in length and is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET. Qualifying will follow shortly afterwards. Neither session will be televised.
Coverage of the Tide 150 is scheduled to air live on FS1 Friday night at 8 p.m. ET. The green flag will fall around 8:15 p.m. ET.
What’s the Weather Looking Like?
The forecast is currently looking good for the weekend. For Friday, the forecast is for sunny skies and a high around 78° with minimal chances of rain.
Saturday will be a little warmer. Forecast high temperatures range anywhere from 80-85° with similar chances of rain.
Sunday will have more clouds than either Friday or Saturday, but the threat of rain will continue to be minimal. High temperatures should be between 81-86°. Regardless of the day, make sure to bring sunblock if you’re going.
TV Ratings Check — Texas
Sunday’s broadcast of the Wurth 400 on FS1 earned a 1.4 rating with 2.56 million viewers. This is up by .1 of a point and 250,000 viewers from last year’s race, which earned a 1.3 rating with 2.31 million viewers. Also of note, the Texas race last year was three weeks earlier.
Saturday’s broadcast of the Xfinity Series Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 on The CW earned a .56 rating with 1.002 million viewers. This is the second smallest audience of the season for the Xfinity Series, but still keeps their streak of million-plus viewers at 12 straight races. Only Bristol was lower.
Despite that, ratings rose significantly compared to last year. Viewership was up 20% while ratings were up by 17%.
On the other hand, Friday night’s SpeedyCash.com 250 for the Craftsman Truck Series on FS1 earned a .22 rating with 401,000 viewers. This is down 20% from last year’s race, which had 503,000 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.