This weekend is a busy one in motorsports. NASCAR has a tripleheader in Texas. ARCA’s regional divisions have a doubleheader on Saturday. Formula One returns from an unplanned five-week break in South Florida. IMSA returns to action in California, while the European Le Mans Series races in France. That’s just scratching the surface of what the racing TV schedule looks like this weekend.
Texas NASCAR Races: TV Schedule
- NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Practice: 2:30 p.m. ET Friday on FS2
- NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Qualifying: 3:35 p.m. ET Friday on FS2
- NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Practice: 5 p.m. ET Friday on The CW App
- NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Qualifying: 6:05 p.m. Friday on The CW App
- NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series SpeedyCash.com 250: 8 p.m. ET Friday on FS1
- NASCAR Cup Series Practice: 12:30 p.m. ET Saturday on Prime Video
- NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying: 1:40 p.m. ET Saturday on Prime Video
- NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Andy’s Frozen Custard 340: 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday on The CW
- ARCA Menards Series East Cook Out Music City 150: 8:30 p.m. ET Saturday on NASCAR Channel/FloRacing
- ARCA Menards Series West Bill Schmitt Memorial 173 presented by the West Coast Stock Car Motorsports Hall of Fame: 11:15 p.m. ET Saturday on NASCAR Channel/FloRacing
- NASCAR Cup Series Wurth 400: 2:30 p.m. ET Sunday on FS1
This weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series will make its annual trip to Fort Worth, Texas for some action on the high banks at Texas Motor Speedway. Texas races tend to be all over the place quality-wise these days.
Teams are scheduled to arrive Friday morning (May 1), but there will be no on-track activity until Saturday. Practice is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. ET with live coverage on Prime Video. Qualifying coverage will follow at 1:40 p.m. ET.
Coverage of the Wurth 400 will begin with NASCAR RaceDay at 2 p.m. ET Sunday on FS1. Race coverage will start at 3:30 p.m. ET with the green flag around 3:45 p.m. ET.
The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series will serve as primary support for Cup. Those teams will set up in the garage early Friday morning.
Practice is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET Friday with live coverage on The CW App and website. Qualifying will follow at 6:05 p.m. ET. There is the possibility of CW affiliates airing the sessions as well, but please check your local listings to see if your affiliate is participating.
Note that yes, ESPN announced Wednesday that it has acquired streaming rights for the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series for the ESPN app. We do not have a definitive date for that move as of yet, only “summer.” For now, The CW App and website will still be your home for streaming practice and qualifying. Stay tuned to Frontstretch for further news and updates on the switch.
Coverage of the Andy’s Frozen Custard 340 will begin with NASCAR Countdown Live at 2:30 p.m. ET Saturday afternoon on The CW. Race coverage will start at 3:30 p.m. ET with the green flag at 3:40 p.m. ET. Note that the 340 doesn’t really mean anything, as it will be a 300-mile race.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series teams, meanwhile, will be back at TMS for their 30th straight year. Teams have already unloaded in the garage and had a full day of preparation Thursday.
Practice for Truck teams is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. ET Friday afternoon, with live coverage on FS2. Qualifying will follow at 3:35 p.m. ET.
Coverage of the SpeedyCash.com 250 will begin at 8 p.m. ET Friday night on FS1. The green flag will fly around 8:20 p.m. ET.
For ARCA, the national series is off after last weekend’s action at Talladega Superspeedway. However, both of the regional series will be racing.
ARCA Menards Series East will be at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway as part of a regular night of racing. Teams are scheduled to practice for 45 minutes at 3 p.m. ET. Qualifying will be at 5 p.m. ET. Neither session will be televised.
Coverage of the Cook Out Music City 150 will begin at 8:30 p.m. ET Saturday night, with coverage simulcast on NASCAR Channel and FloRacing. The green flag is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the continent, ARCA Menards Series West teams will be at a very different track: the one-third of a mile Shasta Speedway in California. It’ll be much slower racing, but with a higher likelihood of contact.
Unlike Nashville, the event is actually a two-day show. Teams are scheduled to arrive Friday and will have two hours of unofficial practice available starting at 11 p.m. ET. Since this will be a match to race conditions, it will be a good idea for teams to make use of it.
On Saturday, teams will get an hour of regular practice starting at 6:30 p.m. ET. Qualifying will follow shortly afterward. Neither session will be televised.
Coverage of the Bill Schmitt Memorial 173 presented by the West Coast Stock Car Motorsports Hall of Fame will begin at 11:15 p.m. ET Saturday on both NASCAR Channel and FloRacing. The race is scheduled to go green at 11:30 p.m. ET.
The distance of 173 laps is intentional. Bill Schmitt, the multi-time series champion, raced the No. 73 during his career.
What’s the Weather Going to Be Like?
The weekend in Texas is going to be a mixed bag. Friday is the worst day of the three.
The forecast calls for rain for much of the day, with temperatures in the mid-50s. If that forecast holds, it would mean that practice and qualifying would likely be cancelled for both the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and the Craftsman Truck Series. The Truck race may also be delayed.
However, the forecast indicates that the weather should move out right around the time the SpeedyCash.com 250 is scheduled to start. Of course, with track drying being necessary, you could be looking at a 10 p.m. ET start. Not swell.
Saturday’s forecast is better with partly cloudy skies and a high around 71°. Just about perfect for a race.
Sunday will have sunny skies and a high of 79°. Bring sunscreen if you’re going.
TV Ratings Check — Talladega
Sunday’s Jack Link’s 500 for the NASCAR Cup Series earned a 2.11 rating with 3.967 million viewers on FOX. The numbers are down 3.2% in ratings and 1.8% in viewership from last year’s race, which had a 2.18 rating with 4.041 million viewers.
Saturday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Ag-Pro 300 averaged 1.339 million viewers on The CW. That total is up 6% over last year’s race, which had 1.26 million viewers. We do not have a Nielsen rating for the race, but last year’s event registered a .7.
Finally, the ARCA Menards Series Alabama Manufactured Homes 200 averaged 446,000 viewers Saturday afternoon. This number is 41% from last year’s audience of 317,000.
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the Frontstretch email 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 Frontstretch 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.