We’ve got another busy weekend on our hands. NASCAR has a tripleheader weekend in Pennsylvania. The NTT IndyCar Series will visit Road America in Wisconsin. IMSA, after all the hubbub last weekend in Le Mans, will have a six-hour race of their own at Watkins Glen.
NASCAR Pocono TV Schedule
- NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Practice: 12:35 p.m. ET Friday on FS2
- NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Qualifying: 1:40 p.m. ET Friday on FS2
- NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series MillerTech Battery 200: 5 p.m. ET on FS1
- NASCAR Xfinity Series Practice: 10 a.m. ET Saturday on The CW App
- NASCAR Xfinity Series Qualifying: 11:05 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: 1:45 p.m. ET Saturday on Amazon Prime Video
- NASCAR Xfinity Series Explore the Pocono Mountains 250: 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday on The CW
- NASCAR Cup Series The Great American Getaway 400: 2 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime Video
NASCAR will make its only visit of the season this weekend to Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Penn. A sellout crowd is likely Sunday, and all of the campsites have been sold out for weeks.
For the NASCAR Cup Series, teams will be arriving at the track Friday, but there will be no on-track activity until Saturday. Practice will air live on Amazon Prime Video starting at 12:30 p.m. ET. Qualifying will follow shortly afterwards.
Coverage of The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway will begin with NASCAR Live at 1 p.m. ET Sunday on Prime Video. Race coverage is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. ET with the green flag around 2:15 p.m. ET.
Primary support to the Cup Series will be the NASCAR Xfinity Series. All of its on-track activity will be Saturday.
Coverage of practice will begin at 10 a.m. ET Saturday morning on The CW App and The CW’s website. Qualifying will follow shortly afterwards. Coverage may air on local CW affiliates, but check your local listings for details.
Coverage of the Explore the Pocono Mountains 250 will begin with NASCAR Countdown Live at 3 p.m. ET Saturday afternoon on The CW. Race coverage will begin at 3:30 p.m. ET, with the green flag around 3:40 p.m. ET.
Finally, we have the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. This year, the Truck race is longer, up to 200 miles from 175. The series will have a one-day show on Friday.
Live coverage of practice will begin at 12:30 p.m. ET Friday afternoon on FS2. Qualifying will begin shortly afterwards.
Coverage of the MillerTech Battery 200 will begin at 5 p.m. ET Friday on FS1. The green flag will fall around 5:20 p.m. ET.
What’s the Weather Looking Like?
In the northeast this weekend, the heat and humidity are forecast to kick it up a notch. The Poconos are not exempt from that.
Friday will likely be the best day of the weekend. The forecast is for partly cloudy skies with a high around 82°.
On Saturday, the humidity will begin to increase. There will still be partly cloudy skies, but with a higher chance of isolated showers. High temperatures during the Xfinity race will be around 85°.
Sunday will be the hottest day of the weekend. There will be sunny skies with highs around 90°. That said, there will be a slight chance of thunderstorms. Given the size of Pocono Raceway, if one of those thundershowers shows up, there could be a significant delay.
TV & Streaming Ratings Check — Mexico City
Sunday’s broadcast of the NASCAR Cup Series Viva Mexico 250 earned a 1.0 rating with 2.1 million viewers on Prime Video Sunday. Since this was an inaugural race, there is no comparison to a previous event.
The race had the youngest average viewer age (54.3) for any Cup race since 2017. Typical races on cable or broadcast TV have an average viewer age closer to 62.
Saturday’s broadcast of the Xfinity Series’ The Chilango 150 earned a .49 rating with 868,000 viewers on The CW. This was the lowest-rated race of the year by a significant margin.
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.