This weekend, NASCAR will descend upon Bristol Motor Speedway for the night race weekend. Things should be interesting as a new tire will be used that will supposedly wear more. We’ll see if that ends up being the case (and if it does, if Goodyear brings enough tires to not make the race a complete travesty).
Outside of Bristol, the European Le Mans Series will visit Silverstone in England, while the Intercontinental GT Challenge will race 1000 kilometers at Suzuka Circuit. The NHRA’s Countdown to One begins this weekend, while there will still be plenty of dirt racing to whet your appetite for action.
NASCAR Bristol TV Schedule
- NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Practice: 3:05 p.m. ET Thursday on FS2
- NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Qualifying: 4:10 p.m. ET Thursday on FS2
- ARCA Menards Series/ARCA Menards Series East Bush’s Beans 200: 5:30 p.m. ET Thursday on FS1
- NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series UNOH 200: 8 p.m. ET Thursday on FS1
- NASCAR Xfinity Series Practice: 2 p.m. ET Friday on The CW App
- NASCAR Xfinity Series Qualifying: 3:05 p.m. ET Friday on The CW App
- NASCAR Cup Series Practice: 4:30 p.m. ET Friday on TruTV/HBO Max
- NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying: 5:40 p.m. ET Friday on TruTV/HBO Max
- NASCAR Xfinity Series Food City 300: 7:30 p.m. ET Friday on The CW
- NASCAR Cup Series Bass Pro Shops Night Race: 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday on USA Network
- ARCA Menards Series West NAPA Auto Parts 150: 10:30 p.m. ET Saturday on FLORacing.
This weekend, Bristol Motor Speedway will be the nexus of stock car racing as the NASCAR Cup Series Round of 16 will come to an end. But that’s only just part of the weekend.
The NASCAR Cup Series will serve as the headliners at Bristol. On-track activity is set to begin with practice Friday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. ET with live coverage on TruTV and HBO Max. Qualifying will follow at 5:40 p.m. ET.
Coverage of the Bass Pro Shops Night Race will begin with Countdown to Green at 7 p.m. ET Saturday night on USA Network. Race coverage will start at 7:30 p.m. ET with the green flag around 7:40 p.m. ET. As this is a cutoff race for the Round of 16, expect a lot of playoff coverage.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series will start its playoff run this weekend with what amounts to a one-day show Friday in Bristol. Practice will be in the heat of the day at 2 p.m. ET on The CW App. Qualifying will follow at 3:05 p.m. ET.
Note that some affiliates of The CW will air practice and qualifying live Friday, pre-empting syndicated programming to do so. Check your local listings in order to see if your affiliate will be one of them.
Coverage of the Food City 300 will begin with NASCAR Countdown Live at 7 p.m. ET on The CW. Race coverage will start at 7:30 p.m. ET, while the green flag will be at 7:40 p.m. ET.
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will be racing Thursday night in Bristol. Years ago, this was a Wednesday night race with a cold day in-between the Truck race and the Cup/Xfinity portion of the weekend.
Practice coverage will air live on FS2 starting at 3 p.m. ET Thursday afternoon. Qualifying will follow at 4 p.m. ET.
Coverage of the UNOH 200 will begin at 8 p.m. ET Thursday night on FS1. The green flag will fly around 8:20 p.m. ET.
Prior to the Truck race, both the ARCA Menards Series and ARCA Menards Series West will take to the high banks in a combination race. The race will serve as the season finale for ARCA Menards Series East.
Practice for ARCA teams is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. ET Thursday afternoon. Qualifying will be shortly afterwards. Neither session will be televised.
Coverage of the Bush’s Beans 200 will air live on FS1 starting at 5:30 p.m. ET Thursday evening. If a substantial amount of shenanigans occurs during the race, it could be shortened to make sure that the Truck race starts on time.
Finally, ARCA Menards Series West teams will take on the one-third-mile All American Speedway in Roseville, Calif. Teams will be able to take advantage of a 90-minute open practice session starting at 10:30 p.m. ET Friday night. This session is unofficial.
During the primary race weekend, teams will have an hour of practice starting at 6 p.m. ET Saturday. Qualifying will follow shortly afterwards at 7:20 p.m. ET. Neither session will be televised.
Coverage of the NAPA Auto Parts 150 presented by the West Coast Stock Car Motorsports Hall of Fame will begin at 10:30 p.m. ET Saturday night on FLORacing. The green flag is scheduled to fall at 10:45 p.m. ET.
TV Ratings Check — Gateway
Well, we’re in the NFL season now. There is no way in heck that you can make these numbers look good for the NASCAR Cup Series.
Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300 presented by TicketSmarter earned a .82 rating with 1.525 million viewers. There is no direct comparison to last year since last year’s Gateway race was in June. That race on FS1 had a 1.4 rating with 2.459 million viewers and was the highest-rated sporting event that day.
Last year on this weekend, Watkins Glen attracted 1.81 million viewers on USA Network for the track’s one and only (for now) playoff race.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series Nu Way 200 Sauced by Blues Hog BBQ earned a .54 rating with 989,000 viewers Saturday night on The CW. Since the series hadn’t raced at Gateway since 2010, there is no real comparison.
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.