Generally, when NASCAR’s big-league Cup Series enjoys a rare off-week, the “other guys” take advantage of the chance to gather some hungry-for-racing eyeballs.
But this week, the O’Reilly and Truck Series join the Cuppers for a week free from horsepower, pit stops and pit-box strategy. Even ARCA, a NASCAR property for a decade and always eager to get some attention, has shut it down this week. So has F1 and IndyCar. Weird but true.
Technically speaking, it’s not a totally quiet week for NASCAR.
NASCAR’s Daytona Beach-based sportscar division — IMSA, the International Motor Sports Association — is racing this weekend and, frankly, racing about as long as a normal Cup/O’Reilly/Truck weekend combined.
IMSA’s four classes of cars — two groups of prototypes and two classes of GTD muscle — will compete at historic and scenic Road America (Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin) for six hours Sunday, beginning at noon.
The Motul SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix is the eighth of 11 races for IMSA’s premiere WeatherTech Championship, and the fourth of five that make up the Michelin Endurance Cup, a season within the season featuring races of six-plus hours.
NASCAR’s stock-car offerings return to next weekend (Aug. 8-9) at Iowa Speedway, with O’Reilly racing Saturday and the Cup Series the next day.
Meanwhile, here’s this weekend’s abbreviated TV schedule.
Stream IMSA race on Peacock
Sunday: Who says there’s no NASCAR race this week?
11:30 a.m.: IMSA 6-hour race at Road America (Peacock, IMSA.tv).
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR TV schedule on a week with no NASCAR racing. You heard me!
Reporting by Ken Willis, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Ken Willis, Daytona Beach News-Journal | USA TODAY Network
