This weekend is guaranteed to be crazy. The NASCAR Cup Series is in disarray due to recent penalties, the NASCAR Xfinity Series is having a wild night, and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is entering the playoffs.

Where to watch NASCAR this week

This is the last split weekend of the season. The NASCAR Cup Series will headline this weekend in Daytona, while the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will visit Milwaukee.

For the NASCAR Cup Series, it is a traditional summer trip to Daytona for the Coke Zero Sugar 400. In past years, the teams would have been on the track on Thursday, but that is no longer the case.

There will be no practice this weekend. Qualifying is scheduled for Friday afternoon at 5:05 p.m. ET. Coverage will air live on the USA Network beginning at 5:05 p.m. ET.

Coverage of Coke Zero Sugar 400 begins with Countdown to green at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday on NBC and Peacock. Race coverage is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. ET, with the green flag shown around 7:45 p.m. ET.

There will be two new elements in this weekend’s Cup broadcast. First, Leigh Diffey will be in the commentary booth for his first Cup race since 2017 on Saturday night. On Tuesday, he was officially introduced as NASCAR on NBC’s new live commentator for the NASCAR Cup Series for the remainder of the 2024 season.

In addition, NBC Sports announced Wednesday that Saturday night’s broadcast will only show NASCAR NonStop commercial breaks during the green light period, meaning viewers will see every green light lap live (the press release emphasizes this).

The move is explained as a “production improvement,” similar to the radio broadcasts used on road and/or street circuits. However, this setup is different from a radio broadcast, as it doesn’t look like the broadcast as a whole will be much different than normal.

The first question is how local breaks will be handled. These cannot take place in parallel and must take place at least once an hour. Will they only take place during the stage breaks? That remains to be seen.

And then there’s the weather. It’s Daytona Beach in August. The forecast calls for temperatures in the 80s, with a 50% chance of isolated thunderstorms.

Granted, the temperature will have dropped a bit by the time the race arrives, but the forecast could mean anything from nothing out of the ordinary and the race starting on time to a Sunday morning race at 10 a.m. ET like in 2022. You might remember what happened back then.

I have accompanied six summer races in Daytona for Front line. Two of those started late because of rain, most notably the 2015 race, which started at 11:45 p.m. ET. The 2014 race was moved to Sunday and then shortened because of rain, with NASCAR starting at noon ET instead of 10 a.m. ET.

This forecast also applies to the NASCAR Xfinity Series on Friday in Daytona. The Xfinity teams arrived in Daytona on Thursday morning to conduct an inspection.

Qualifying takes place at Daytona on Friday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. ET, in the heat of the afternoon. If you’re there, make sure you stay hydrated as the sun is scorching hot. The session will be broadcast live on the USA Network.

Coverage of the Wawa 250 powered by Coca-Cola begins with Countdown to green at 7:00 p.m. ET on the USA Network. Race coverage is expected to begin at 7:30 p.m. ET, with racing kickoff at 7:40 p.m. ET.

1,250 miles away, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series playoff round begins this weekend at the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wisconsin. There will be a very different atmosphere at NASCAR’s oldest race track.

Practice is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET Saturday afternoon on the one-mile oval, with qualifying following shortly thereafter. Neither session will be televised.

Coverage of LiUNA! 175 will air live on FOX Sports 1 at 4 p.m. ET on Sunday. The green flag is scheduled for 4:25 p.m. ET.

In addition to the Craftsman Truck Series in Milwaukee, the ARCA Menards Series is also taking place. The series is hosting its third race in nine days and a combination race with the ARCA Menards Series East.

Practice is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET Saturday, with qualifying taking place shortly after. Neither session will be televised.

Coverage of Speaker 150 is expected to air live on FS1 beginning at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday. The green flag is tentatively scheduled for 1:09 p.m. ET.

TV Ratings Check – Michigan

Once again, NASCAR’s parade was rained out. Sunday saw a two-hour rain delay during the formation laps, then another red flag after 51 laps that caused the race to be postponed until Monday. That broadcast drew a 1.2 rating with 2.11 million viewers, well below the 1.5 rating and 2.603 million viewers that the Sunday portion of the race drew last year.

The Monday portion of the race achieved a 0.6 rating and 1.11 million viewers. While this figure is lower than the ratings (0.7), the viewership is up by around 28,000 compared to last year’s broadcast. It’s never great to be able to make a direct comparison of rain-delayed broadcasts like this, but that’s exactly what the rain gave us this week.