(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)
As the season continues on, the first weekend of May will bring potential thunderstorms and two major race weekends in the United States.
Where to Watch NASCAR This Weekend
Kansas Speedway will host a tripleheader weekend on their intermediate tri-oval this weekend. The NASCAR Cup Series will be the headliner, along with the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and the ARCA Menards Series.
Coverage of the AdventHealth 400 for the NASCAR Cup Series Sunday will start with NASCAR RaceDay at 2 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1. Race coverage will start at 3 p.m. ET with the green flag around 3:15 p.m. ET.
Weather-wise, Sunday in Kansas City appears to be getting better. The forecast calls for a 30% chance of isolated thunderstorms with temperatures in the 70s.
Saturday is a busy day at Kansas Speedway as the track will host a doubleheader. First up is the ARCA Menards Series. Coverage of the Tide 150 will air live on FS1 starting at 2 p.m. ET.
Later on, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will compete in a twilight race that will finish under the lights. Coverage of the Heart of America 200 will begin with NASCAR RaceDay – NCTS Edition at 7 p.m. ET on FS1. Race coverage begins at 8 p.m. ET with the green flag around 8:10 p.m. ET.
Where to Watch Other Racing Series This Weekend
What might the most watched race of the entire weekend could be Formula 1’s third visit to Miami Gardens, Fla. for the Grand Prix of Miami. Before we get to the race itself, Miami is another Sprint weekend. As a result, there will be a shorter race on Saturday.
Coverage of the Miami Sprint event is scheduled to air live on ESPN Saturday at 11:55 a.m. ET. The Sprint will air directly against practice and qualifying for the Heart of America 200 from Kansas.
Coverage of the Grand Prix of Miami from the Miami International Autodrome outside of Hard Rock Stadium will start with Formula 1: Grand Prix Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. ABC will join the show in progress at 3:30 p.m. ET. Race coverage will begin at 3:55 p.m. ET with the formation lap starting precisely at 4 p.m. ET.
Formula 1 will be joined by F1 Academy, F1’s replacement for the now-defunct W Series. They will have two races this weekend on the 3.363-mile temporary course. Race No. 1 will be at 2:05 p.m. ET Saturday, while Race No. 2 will be at 1:05 p.m. ET Sunday. Both races will be streamed live on ESPN+.
The weather in Miami-Dade County will be typical for South Florida in early May. High temperatures will be around 85 all weekend with dewpoints in the low-70s. There is a chance of precipitation every day since it’s South Florida and that is a way of life there. If it does show up, it won’t be around for long.
World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series teams will make their first visit of the year to Eldora Speedway this weekend for the #LetsRaceTwo. Coverage from rural Ohio will begin at 5:45 p.m. ET both Friday and Saturday nights on DirtVision.
World of Outlaws CASE Construction Late Model Series teams will be at Mississippi Thunder Speedway in Fountain City, Wis. for the Dairyland Showdown. This was originally scheduled to be three nights of racing starting tonight, but Thursday night’s action has already been cancelled due to a bad forecast.
Friday and Saturday night’s action is still on. Racing from Wisconsin will start both nights at 7:15 p.m. ET on DirtVision.
SRO America’s series will all be in action this weekend at Sebring International Raceway. The main class, Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS, is scheduled to race at 3:05 p.m. ET Saturday and 11:15 a.m. ET Sunday. All 10 races on the schedule will be streamed live on the GT World YouTube channel. Selected races will be streamed on SpeedSport1 as well.
NASCAR TV Ratings Check — Dover
Sunday’s Wurth 400 for the NASCAR Cup Series from Dover Motor Speedway earned a 1.3 rating with 2.401 million viewers on FS1. There is no direct comparison with either of the last two Cup race broadcasts from Dover since both of those races were postponed to Monday due to rain.
Last year’s broadcast had no available data for Sunday since the entire race was postponed. 1.067 million watched the Monday broadcast. The 2022 race was red-flagged after 78 laps, then completed on Monday. 1.487 million viewers watched the first portion of the race prior to the rain, then 944,000 viewers watched the Monday portion.
Viewership is down from the last time the race ran as scheduled in 2021, though. That race earned a 1.5 rating, but with only 29,000 more viewers than Sunday’s race got.
Saturday’s BetRivers 200 for the NASCAR Xfinity Series earned a .53 rating with 883,000 viewers. That is an increase of .12 of a rating point (29%) and 209,000 viewers (31%) over last year.
The ARCA Menards Series/ARCA Menards Series East General Tire 150 live broadcast on FOX Sports 2 attracted 108,000 viewers with a 5 p.m. ET start. Viewership for the 7 p.m. ET repeat on FS1 is unavailable.
In Alabama, NBC’s coverage of the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park earned a .45 rating with 763,000 viewers. Despite the quirky of the race, the event was down .12 of a point (21%) and 167,000 viewers (18%) from last year.
About the author
Phil Allaway
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.
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