This weekend will be a busy one. NASCAR will be close to home in North Carolina, while the NTT IndyCar Series will be at Nashville Superspeedway. Formula 1 will be in Belgium as well.
NASCAR North Wilkesboro TV Schedule
- NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Practice: 2 p.m. ET Friday on FS2
- NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Qualifying: 3:05 p.m. ET Friday on FS2
- zMAX CARS Tour Spears Manufacturing 75/Skyline National Bank 100: 5 p.m. ET on FLORacing
- NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series FaithFest 250: 12:30 p.m. ET Saturday on FS1
- NASCAR Cup Series Practice: 5 p.m. ET Saturday on TruTV/HBO Max
- NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying: 6:10 p.m. ET Saturday on TruTV/HBO Max
- NASCAR Cup Series Window World 450: 7 p.m. ET Sunday on TNT/TruTV/HBO Max
This weekend, NASCAR will return to North Wilkesboro Speedway. This time, it will be the first points race for the NASCAR Cup Series on the five-eighths of a mile oval since 1996. 10 years ago, I don’t think anyone would have thought that would have been possible.
Teams are scheduled to practice starting Saturday afternoon at 5 p.m. ET with live coverage on TruTV and HBO Max. Qualifying will follow at 6:10 p.m. ET.
Coverage of the Window World 450 will begin with NASCAR Nation Pre-Race at 6 p.m. ET Sunday on TNT, TruTV and HBO Max. Race coverage will start at 7 p.m. ET with the green flag coming out around 7:15 p.m. ET.
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will serve as primary support in North Wilkesboro. Those teams are scheduled to practice Friday for 50 minutes starting at 2 p.m. ET with live coverage on FS2. Qualifying will follow at 3:05 p.m. ET.
Coverage of the FaithFest 250 will begin at 12:30 p.m. ET Saturday afternoon on FS1. The green flag will fly around 12:50 p.m. ET.
In addition, the zMAX CARS Tour will serve as tertiary support. Teams were already in North Wilkesboro Thursday to qualify.
Friday will be a doubleheader with the Pro Late Model Spears Manufacturing 75 and the Late Model Stock Skyline National Bank 100. Coverage will begin at 5 p.m. ET on FLORacing.
What’s the Weather Looking Like?
Honestly, this weekend’s weather is looking a lot like last week. It’s going to be hot and humid.
Friday will be the warmest day of the three. The forecast currently calls for hot and humid weather with a high around 94°. There is a decent chance of thunderstorms as well.
Saturday’s forecast is for sunny skies with a good amount of humidity. High temperatures will be around 90°, but there’s another good chance of thunderstorms.
Sunday’s forecast calls for a high of 88° with more clouds than the other two days. There is once again a chance for showers and thunderstorms. With the Window World 450 running in the evening, there is the possibility that they move through before the race starts.
TV Ratings Check — EchoPark Speedway
Sunday night’s broadcast of the Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart averaged approximately 1.5 million viewers over the more than seven hours of coverage. This is down 2.3% from last year’s race, which had 1.542 million viewers.
If what TNT was claiming is true, this would have been a pretty good night ratings-wise had it not rained.
Saturday night’s wreckfest for the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series earned a .56 rating with an average of 1.011 million viewers. This is up significantly over last year’s race, which only had 583,000 viewers. However, last year’s race was plagued by rain.
There is no rating or viewership information available for Saturday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series LiUNA! 150 from Lime Rock Park, or the ARCA Menards Series Lime Rock Park 100.
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.