We’ve got a pretty crowded race weekend coming up with something for everyone. NASCAR is back in Indianapolis, both at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. The NTT IndyCar Series will be at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, while Formula 1 is at the always treacherous Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.
NASCAR Indianapolis TV Schedule
- NASCAR Xfinity Series Practice: 12:05 p.m. ET Friday on The CW App
- NASCAR Cup Series Practice: 1:05 p.m. ET Friday on TruTV/HBO Max
- NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Practice: 3:05 p.m. ET Friday on FS1
- NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Qualifying: 4:10 p.m. ET Friday on FS1
- ARCA Menards Series LiUNA! 150 presented by Dutch Boy: 5:30 p.m. ET Friday on FS1
- NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series TSport 200: 8 p.m. ET Friday on FS1
- NASCAR Xfinity Series Qualifying: 1 p.m. ET Saturday on The CW App
- NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying: 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday on TruTV/HBO Max
- NASCAR Xfinity Series Pennzoil 250: 4:30 p.m. ET Saturday on The CW
- NASCAR Cup Series Brickyard 400 presented by PPG: 2 p.m. ET Sunday on TNT/TruTV/HBO Max
This weekend, NASCAR descends upon the Indianapolis area with action at two different tracks that are separated by eight miles. Theoretically, it is not difficult to go to both tracks as they’re all but on the same road.
The NASCAR Cup Series will headline in a more spread-out race weekend than normal. Teams will have a full 50-minute practice Friday afternoon. Coverage will air live on TruTV at 1 p.m. ET.
Qualifying will be Saturday afternoon in the heat of the day. Coverage will air live at 2:30 p.m. ET on TruTV.
Coverage of the Brickyard 400 presented by PPG will begin with NASCAR Nation Pre-Race at 1 p.m. ET Sunday afternoon on TNT, TruTV and HBO Max. Race coverage will start at 2 p.m. ET with the green flag around 2:20 p.m. ET.
HBO Max will have both broadcasts available live. TNT will have the regular broadcast, while TruTV will have the final In-Season Challenge AltCast, which will be focused on Ty Dillon and Ty Gibbs.
The Cup teams will be joined by the NASCAR Xfinity Series at the big house. They are scheduled to practice Friday at 12:05 p.m. ET. Coverage will stream live on The CW App. Qualifying is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET Saturday afternoon. It is possible that some CW affiliates may air one or both of the sessions live, but please check your local listings.
Coverage of the Pennzoil 250 will begin with NASCAR Countdown Live at 4 p.m. ET Saturday afternoon on The CW. Race coverage will begin at 4:30 p.m. ET with the green flag around 4:45 p.m. ET.
Eight miles west of IMS, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will return from a four-week break to begin the stretch run to the playoffs. With even just a decent run Friday night, Corey Heim can clinch the regular season championship.
Practice is scheduled for 3:05 p.m. ET Friday afternoon. That will air live on FOX Sports 1 starting at 3 p.m. ET. Qualifying will follow shortly afterwards.
Coverage of the TSport 200 is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. ET on FS1. The green flag is scheduled for 8:20 p.m. ET.
The Truck Series will be accompanied by a combination race for the ARCA Menards Series and ARCA Menards Series East, who are racing together for the second straight week. They arrived Thursday to drop everything off in the infield since their transporters will be parked outside of the track.
ARCA teams have a 45-minute practice session scheduled for Friday at 1 p.m. ET. Qualifying will start shortly afterwards. Neither session will be televised.
Coverage of the LiUNA! 150 presented by Dutch Boy is scheduled to air live on FS1 starting at 5:30 p.m. ET Friday. The green flag will fly shortly afterwards.
TV Ratings Check — Dover
Sunday’s broadcast of the NASCAR Cup Series AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 had 2.009 million viewers. Unlike the past couple of weeks, there is no breakdown of TNT viewership and TruTV viewership, so I’m not sure how many people watched each broadcast.
What is clear, according to Sports Business Journal’s Adam Stern, is that the rain delay hurt viewership quite a bit. Normally, viewership peaks towards the end of races. That wasn’t the case Sunday.
Viewership was down 16.5% from last year’s race. That race was broadcast on FS1 in late April earned a 1.3 rating with 2.401 million viewers.
Saturday’s rain-shortened broadcast of the NASCAR Xfinity Series BetRivers 200 had 1.047 million viewers on The CW, up 19% from last year’s event. That race earned a .53 rating with 883,000 viewers on FS1.
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.