What holiday? This weekend's racing schedule will be busier than anything
It’s one of the busiest racing holidays of the year; it’s Labor Day weekend and motorsports will be coming to the head of the pack with international and coast-to-coast coverage.
Formula 1
Formula 1 heads to ‘Team Orange’ central in Zandvoort, Netherlands as part of the hometown scene of crowd favorite Max Verstappen. The Oracle/Red Bull team is red hot not from just winning last weekend but for the entire 2022 season, with Mad Max taking nine victories out of 14 races and including teammate Sergio Perez, it’s 10 wins.
Scuderia Ferrari is trying to push forward but is being beset with a seize of problems that has Charles LeClerc and Carlos Sainz just shy of Red Bull’s performance. Still in the hunt are McLaren, Mercedes, Alpine and AlphaTauri, that with a few breaks could change the podium landscape with a surprise appearance. Lights go out at 8:55 a.m. EDT on ESPN on Sunday.
NHRA
It's called by drag racers ‘The Big Go’. It’s the NHRA’s most prestigious event of every season. The 68th annual Dodge Power Brokers U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park started on Wednesday and finishes on Labor Day Monday with final eliminations.
When you think back on all the history in this arena, you can’t help but reminisce about Top Fuel and Funny Car favorites as Garlits, Prudhomme, Muldowney, Bernstein, Beadle, Amato, McCulloch and of course 16-time champion John Force for all they did to make Indy the race it is.
As tradition would have it, the U.S. Nationals always has a race within the race with the Pep Boys Callout specialty race for the Top Fuel and Funny Car classes on Saturday and Sunday. There’s $80,000 that goes to each champion of their special event so pride is on the line.
After the Top Fuel quarterfinals round was hindered by inclement weather in Gainesville back in March, the final two rounds of the Pep Boys Top Fuel Callout will play out at IRP on Saturday afternoon.
Brittany Force makes the first call out with her 3.684 ET, 337.75 mph in her first-round defeat of Antron Brown in Gainesville. After that the order is Steve Torrence, Mike Salinas and Justin Ashley.
On Sunday, the top eight Funny Cars will go head-to-head with three rounds of eliminations to crown a champion of the Pep Boys Funny Car Callout on Sunday. Coverage starts at 4:00 p.m. EDT on FS1.
Robert Hight leads the pack and gets to ‘callout’ his next opponent. Then Ron Capps goes second followed by Matt Hagen, Cruz Pedregon, John Force, Bob Tasca III, Alexis DeJoria and lastly, Tim Wilkerson.
The Dodge Power Brokers U.S. Nationals will air on Labor Day Monday at 12 noon EDT on FS1 before switching over to the FOX Network at 2:00 p.m. EDT to complete NHRA’s biggest race.
NASCAR
Speaking of tradition, the 71st running of the Cook Out Southern 500 that started in 1950 with Johnny Mantz taking the race’s first checkered flag has now progressed into one of NASCAR major races.
It becomes “The Track Too Tough To Tame”. So much has changed since its inception and now Darlington in 2022 sets the stage of the first segment of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs 10-race run. You couldn’t ask for a more controversial track with four such distinctive corners to begin the road to the championship.
Chase Elliott, the regular season champion, leads the way into Darlington with 15 of his adversaries for 367 laps of racing action. Tire wear is more than critical and those drivers with a lighter foot may have the best way to get around the 1.366-mile egg shaped oval and earn a legendary conquest at the prestigious track.
USA Network airs the Countdown to Green at 5:00 p.m. EDT followed by the Cook Out Southern 500 at 6:00 p.m. EDT on Sunday.
The Great Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 NASCAR Xfinity race will be on the USA Network on Saturday starting at 2:30 p.m. EDT.
IndyCar
IndyCar goes to the West Coast for its penultimate event of 2022 for the running of the Grand Prix of Portland. Five drivers are in final contention as the series ends next weekend at Laguna Seca and the Portland race will play a pivotal role to set up the finale.
Will Power is the points leader and Penske teammate, Josef Newgarden, is in hot pursuit trailing by only three points. Then Chip Ganassi Racing joins the fray with Scott Dixon, Marcus Ericsson and defending champ, Alex Palou in third through fifth in the standings with only 43 points separating the top five.
NBC will cover the IndyCar series starting at 3:00 p.m. EDT on Sunday with Peacock showing all the prerace practice and qualifying.
Extras
Other worthy events to mention are the Toyota-Bud Mod Classic 150 for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at Oswego (NY) Speedway on Saturday night on FloRacing.com.
ARCA runs on the dirt of the DuQuoin Fairgrounds for the Rust-Oleum Automotive 100 on MAVTV on Sunday afternoon and Saturday night, the ARCA-West runs the Portland 100 as part of the IndyCar weekend on FloRacing.com
Be sure to check the AutoRacingDigest.com Racing TV Schedule to get the exact times.
Wishing everyone a safe and fun Labor Day weekend. Tune in!
Follow Jay Wells on Twitter @jaywells500.
