This weekend, we have uncharted territory as NASCAR races on airfield tarmac for the first time since the 1950s. IndyCar travels to Road America, while ARCA visits Berlin Raceway.
NASCAR San Diego (Coronado) TV Schedule
- NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Practice No. 1: Noon ET Friday on FS2
- NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Practice No. 2: 1 p.m. ET Friday on FS2
- NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Qualifying: 2 p.m. ET Friday on FS2
- NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Practice: 3:30 p.m. ET Friday on The CW App
- NASCAR Cup Series Practice: 5 p.m. ET Friday on Sports on Prime/Prime Video
- NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Navy 250: 7 p.m. ET Friday on FS1
- NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Qualifying: 1 p.m. ET Saturday on The CW App
- NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying: 2:30 p.m. ET Saturday on Prime Video
- NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series United Rentals Driven to Serve 250: 5 p.m. ET Saturday on The CW
- NASCAR Cup Series Anduril 250 Race the Base: 4 p.m. ET Sunday on Prime Video
This weekend, NASCAR will race on a temporary 3.4-mile circuit at Naval Base Coronado, which is located on Coronado Island just outside of San Diego. It will be a complete weekend of unknowns. Clips of the track in iRacing suggest that it will be exceptionally bumpy in places and the pace will be somewhat similar to Circuit of the Americas when the races were still on the Grand Prix circuit.
NASCAR Cup Series teams will start their weekend Friday with a 50-minute practice session at 5 p.m. ET. The session will stream live on both the Sports on Prime YouTube channel and Prime Video.
Qualifying is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. ET Saturday afternoon on Prime Video. This will be a group qualifying session.
Coverage of the Anduril 250 Race the Base will start with NASCAR Live Pre-Race at 2:30 p.m. ET Sunday afternoon (11:30 a.m. PT) on Prime Video. Race coverage will begin at 4 p.m. ET with the green flag at 4:15 p.m. ET.
The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series will serve as primary support this weekend. Teams will have a two-day show on Coronado Island.
There will be a 50-minute practice session at 3:30 p.m. ET Friday afternoon with coverage on The CW App and website. Qualifying is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET Saturday. Qualifying coverage may be aired on local CW affiliates. For example, WCWB (CW15), the CW affiliate for Albany, Ney York, is airing qualifying for the first time this weekend. Otherwise, please check your local listings.
Coverage of the United Rentals Driven to Serve 250 will begin with NASCAR Countdown Live at 4 p.m. ET Saturday afternoon on The CW. Race coverage will start at 5 p.m. ET with the green flag at 5:10 p.m. ET.
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will also be on the bill. Friday’s schedule for those teams will be a little unusual. There are two very close together practice sessions, both of which will be 40 minutes in length.
Practice No. 1 will start at Noon ET (9 a.m. PT) on FS2. Following a short break, practice No. 2 will follow at 1 p.m. ET. After a second break, qualifying will start at 2 p.m. ET.
Coverage of the Navy 250 will begin at 7 p.m. ET on FS1. The green flag should fly around 7:20 p.m. ET. This race was originally going to only allow service members and those who live on Coronado Island to attend since Friday is Juneteenth, a federal holiday. However, tickets were made available to the general public recently.
Note the 250 listed in the name of each race does not apply to the actual lengths. It is simply an ode to the United States of America’s 250th birthday. The Cup race is 255 miles, O’Reilly is 204 miles and the Truck race is 170 miles.
The ARCA Menards Series will travel to Marne, Michigan, northwest of Grand Rapids, for a traditional short track race. It’s going be a classic 200-lapper.
Teams will have a condensed one-day show Saturday. There is a 45-minute practice session scheduled for 3 p.m. ET. Qualifying will be at 4:30 p.m. ET. Neither session will be televised.
Coverage of the Herr’s Snacks 200 will air live on FS2 at 6:30 p.m. ET Saturday. The green flag will fly around 6:40 p.m. ET.
What’s the Weather Going to Be Like?
There’s a song by Albert Hammond called “It Never Rains in Southern California” that was released back in 1972 that made it to No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. This weekend on Coronado Island will be a reflection of that song. It’s going to be just about perfect.
The forecast for all three days calls for sunny skies with some clouds (but not many) with a high of 71°. There could be a breeze coming in off the Pacific Ocean at times. Since that water is cold, it might create a chill. Regardless, it seems like you’re not going to be able to get much better weather for daytime racing.
It’ll be a little different in Michigan. The forecast for Saturday in Marne is for partly cloudy skies with a high of 74°, but there is also a 50% chance of showers.
TV Ratings Check — Pocono
Sunday’s broadcast of The Great American Getaway 400 had 1.66 million viewers. This is down 11% from last year’s audience of 1.869 million. However, the viewership peaked at a higher number than last year’s race did.
Admittedly, this is somewhat unusual. The likely reasoning is the fact that the race was moved up two hours due to potential thunderstorms. Knowing that it started raining as soon as NASCAR Live Post-Race wrapped up Sunday, it was a good decision to move the start up. Saturday’s wreck-filled MillerTech Battery 250 presented by KOA attracted an audience of 1.111 million viewers on The CW. This was more or less flat with last year’s race, which had an audience of 1.12 million. The race was also one week later in 2025.
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.
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