NASCAR Weekend TV Schedule: COTA/St. Petersburg, Feb. 27 – March 1

This weekend will be a very busy one for race fans. The NASCAR Cup Series will be at Circuit of the Americas in Texas. Meanwhile, the NTT IndyCar Series starts its 2026 season in St. Petersburg and the ARCA Menards Series West starts up at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway.

NASCAR COTA/St. Petersburg TV Schedule

• NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Practice: 4 p.m. ET Friday on FS2
• NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Practice: 5 p.m. ET on The CW App
• NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Qualifying: 5 p.m. ET Friday on FS2
• NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Qualifying: 6:05 p.m. ET Friday on The CW App
• NASCAR Cup Series Practice: 10 a.m. ET Saturday on Amazon Prime Video
• NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying: 11:10 a.m. ET Saturday on Amazon Prime Video
• NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series OnlyBulls Green Flag 150: noon ET Saturday on FOX
• NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Focused Health 250: 3 p.m. ET Saturday on The CW
• ARCA Menards Series West Oil Workers 150: 7:45 p.m. ET Saturday on FLORacing
• NASCAR Cup Series DuraMAX Texas Grand Prix: 3:30 p.m. ET Sunday on FOX

This weekend is a rare split weekend for NASCAR. The primary show will be at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. The NASCAR Cup Series will headline for the sixth time on the road course.

Practice will begin bright and early Saturday at 10 a.m. ET with live coverage on Prime Video. Qualifying will begin shortly afterwards.

Coverage of the DuraMAX Grand Prix will begin with NASCAR RaceDay at 2:30 p.m. ET Sunday on FOX. Note that the race is airing as the second half of a doubleheader with the NTT IndyCar Series Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. If that race runs long, there is a possibility of NASCAR RaceDay being shortened.

Race coverage is scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m. ET. The green flag will be around 3:45 p.m. ET.

The O’Reilly Auto Parts Series will serve as primary support. Teams are scheduled to practice Friday starting at 5 p.m. ET with coverage on The CW App and website. Some CW affiliates will air the sessions live as well, but please check your local listings. Qualifying will begin at 6:05 p.m. ET.

Coverage of the Focused Health 250 will begin with NASCAR Countdown Live at 2:30 p.m. ET Saturday afternoon on The CW. Race coverage will begin at 3 p.m. ET with the green flag around 3:10 p.m. ET.

Meanwhile, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will make some history this weekend. The trucks will be in St. Petersburg, Fla. for their first ever street race as primary support to the NTT IndyCar Series.

There will be a 50-minute practice session for the 36 teams entered starting at 4 p.m. ET Friday on FS2. Qualifying will start shortly afterwards. A replay of the session will air at 8 p.m. ET on FS 1.

Coverage of the OnlyBulls Green Flag 150 will begin at noon ET Saturday afternoon on FOX. The green flag should fall around 12:15 p.m. ET.

In California, ARCA Menards Series West teams will start their season at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway near Bakersfield. Teams will have two hours of optional practice available starting at 6:45 p.m. ET Friday. This is an unofficial session.

The official practice session is 45 minutes in length and scheduled for 4 p.m. ET Saturday. Qualifying will be at 6 p.m. ET. Neither session will be televised.

Coverage of the Oil Workers 150 is set to begin at 7:45 p.m. ET Saturday on FLORacing. The green flag will fly around 8 p.m. ET.

Take a Look Back at the Week’s Biggest NASCAR Stories

• Ford Seems To Have Given Up on Lower-Series Development
• Joe Gibbs Racing Files Lawsuit Against Chris Gabehart
• TV Should Not Dictate When Races End
• Corey Day Has a Long List of Apologies After Atlanta
• Ken Schrader’s Candid Recollection of Dale Earnhardt’s Fatal Wreck

What’s the Weather Going to Be Like?

Austin is going to be unusually warm for this time of year. Friday’s forecast is for sunny skies with a high of 86°. It’s going to be dry as well with a slight breeze.

Saturday is going to be a little windier. That said, it’s still going to be sunny with a high of 85°.

Sunday is almost going to be a carbon copy of Friday: 86° with light winds. There will be a few more clouds than the rest of the weekend, but there is zero chance of rain for the whole time NASCAR will be at COTA.

St. Petersburg is another story. There is an approaching cold front that could cause some problems Friday.

For much of the day, including the opening NTT IndyCar Series practice, things will be fine with a high temperature around 78°. However, things start to get sketchy when the front moves in, potentially just in time for Truck practice and qualifying.

In case of a storm, the eight-mile rule applies. If lightning strikes anywhere near the track, it’s a complete stop down. With how busy the schedule is in St. Petersburg, any significant delay would likely be a cancellation. As it stands, Truck qualifying is scheduled to end 30 minutes before sunset.

Saturday’s forecast seems to be getting better, but it’s not going to be perfect. The forecast is for mostly cloudy skies with a 60% chance of showers with a high around 78°. It is forecast to rain in the morning. The second IndyCar practice and some of the support races (ex: the 7:30 a.m. ET MX-5 Cup race) could be in the wet.

For IndyCar fans, Sunday will be the best day of the weekend in St. Petersburg. The forecast is for sunny skies with a high of 80°.

In Bakersfield, it will be nice Saturday. The forecast calls for partly cloudy skies with a high of 82°.

TV Ratings Check — EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta)

EchoPark Speedway was a mixed bag last weekend, but it was far from bad. Sunday’s broadcast of the AutoTrader 400 on FOX earned a 2.4 rating with 4.487 million viewers. This is flat ratings-wise with last year, but down by 2% (103,000) in viewership.

Saturday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Bennett Transportation & Logistics 250 earned a .8 rating with 1.366 million viewers. That is up 12% in ratings and 4% in viewership from last year’s race, which earned a .7 rating with 1.31 million.