It's time to check your weekend racing schedule
As we move into October, that means Talladega is coming up this weekend. The NASCAR Cup, Xfinity and Truck series are all in action for this Saturday-Sunday Alabama NASCAR playoff showdown.
Meanwhile, Formula 1 is back in the Far East racing in Singapore this weekend and the NHRA is in St. Louis for the third round of the six-round Countdown to the Championship.
Graphic courtesy Dylan Bauerle Racing
NASCAR
The Cup series sees Joey Logano at the top of the standings and is 37 points to the good, while Chase Briscoe is on the cutline just 7 points above the bubble. Those last four in ninth through 12th are, Austin Cindric (-7), William Byron (-8) Christopher Bell (-25), and in 12th and last place is Alex Bowman (-30), who will miss this weekend still recovering from concussion symptoms following a hard hit last Sunday at Texas. He'll be replaced by Noah Gragson
All the drivers feel the uncertainty of the Talladega Superspeedway and it brings out the Top “A’s” in the drivers that the 2.66-mile track provides. That is Anticipation, Anxiety, Angst, Anger, Anguish, and Aw, man!
It’s been called the ‘Wild Card’ event of the NASCAR Playoffs and after multiple “Big Ones” taking out huge packs of cars, the winner will survive using his smarts and a whole lot of luck to reach victory lane.
The Camping World Trucks will not air its qualifying, but Xfinity qualifying airs at 5:30 p.m. EDT on USA Network on Friday afternoon.
Saturday finds the Cup series qualifying on the NBC Sports App at 10:30 a.m. EDT. That’s followed by the Camping World Truck Series Chevy Silverado 200 airing on FS1 at 12:00 noon EDT. The Xfinity series follows the Trucks on USA Network at 3:30 p.m. EDT for the Sparks 300.
Sunday starts with NASCAR Race Hub at 11:30 a.m. on FS1 and is followed by NBC’s Countdown to Green at 1:00 p.m. EDT which leads into the YellowWood 500 at 2:00 p.m. EDT.
FORMULA 1
Formula 1 returns this weekend to the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore. It’s going to be warm and teams will once again battle the heat and tire degradation. Max Verstappen has a commanding 116-point lead over his nearest rival, Charles Leclerc. It’s Mad Max’s 11 wins and 13 podiums that have gotten him to this point. It’s that points battle from second- to fourth-place that has the most interest in F1 as Leclerc has a 9-point lead over Sergio Perez and 16 over George Russell in fourth.
Practice begins on Friday morning and leads into Saturday morning qualifying at 8:55 a.m. EDT on ESPNEWS.
Sunday leads into the Grand Prix Sunday at 6:30 a.m. EDT and is followed by the Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix at 7:55 a.m. EDT with all shows on ESPN2.
NHRA
The National Hot Rod Association is approaching the midpoint in its Countdown to the Championship for the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing championship in Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle. World-Wide Technology Raceway is playing host to the hotrodders just outside of St. Louis this weekend.
Justin Ashley has the Top Fuel lead and holds a 43-point margin over Antron Brown. Don’t worry, Brittany Force, Mike Salinas, and defending champ, Steve Torrence are still in contention for the elusive prestigious title.
Funny Car sees Robert Hight as the leader followed by last week’s winner in Charlotte, Ron Capps, by 27 points. Matt Hagan, John Force, and Bob Tasca round out the top 5.
Pro Stock has Erica Enders 64 points ahead of second-ranked Aaron Stanfield. Rounding out the top five are Troy Coughlin, Jr., Greg Anderson and Kyle Koretsky in contention for the title.
Pro Stock Motorcycle has Joey Gladstone as the leader, holding a 29-point edge over Matt Smith. Also in the running are Steve Johnson, Angie Smith and Marc Ingwersen, all in the Top 5.
The NHRA airs at 12:30 p.m. EDT the entire weekend of qualifying which will lead into the live broadcast of the Midwest Nationals at 2:00 p.m. EDT with both shows on FS1.
IMSA
The sports cars of the IMSA WeatherTech series head to Georgia for the series' final event of 2022 - the MOTUL Petit Le Mans. The 10-hour marathon at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta will feature the Daytona Prototype International (DPi), the Le Mans Prototypes (LMP2), the Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3), the GT Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) and the GT Daytona (GTD) divisions running on the 2.54-mile road course. Add in the heated manufacturer and team rivalries to the event, and that makes this one a can’t-miss show.
Raceday starts on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. EDT on NBC. Peacock will air the entire event with its live streaming. The last three and a half hours will be on USA Network starting at 7:00 p.m.
ARCA
ARCA returns for the penultimate race of its season this weekend on Saturday at Salem, Indiana for the running of the Herr’s Snacks 200 at 4:00 p.m. EDT on MAVTV. Joining them on Saturday is the ARCA West series for the NAPA AutoCare 150 at the All-American Speedway in Roseville, California, streaming on FloRacing.com at 9:45 p.m. EDT.
WEATHER ALERT!
With Hurricane Ian having crossed Florida and now churning up the East Coast towards Georgia and the Carolinas this weekend, it could spread its rain as far west as Talladega, so delays could be possible on Saturday. Weather forecasters are saying it will lift in time for the Cup race on Sunday.
Be sure to check Auto Racing Digest’s Motorsports TV Schedule to get the exact times and places. We don’t want you to miss a single event.
Be safe and wishing everyone a great racing weekend.
Follow Jay Wells on Twitter @jaywells500.
