Due to steady rain and flooding in the area, NASCAR has postponed both the NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) Food City Dirt Race and NASCAR Camping World Trucks (NCWTS) Pinty’s Truck Race on Dirt until Monday. The NCWTS will race at 12 noon ET Monday, broadcast on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio followed by the NCS race at 4 p.m. ET, to be broadcast on FOX, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
The NASCAR Cup Series and the Camping World Truck Series head to Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend for some much-anticipated dirt track racing. It will be the first time since 1970 that the Cup Series has competed on a dirt track.
Both series will have practice sessions and heat races before the main events.
The lineup for the 15-lap heat races will be determined by a random draw. Only green flag laps will count.
After the qualifying heat races, the starting lineups for the Cup Series and Truck Series races will be determined by a formula that takes into account the finishing position plus any positions gained during each heat.
Drivers who finish first in their heat will earn 10 points with second place earning nine points, third place earning eight points, and so on. Also, the drivers will earn passing points for each position they gained during their heat race. All of these factors will be used to calculate the starting lineup for the main events. If there are any ties, they will be broken by current team owner points.
Because of safety concerns, there will be no green or yellow flag pit stops during the races. All adjustments, tire changes and adding fuel are only allowed during stage breaks with the exception of vehicles involved in incidents.
Teams, however, are not required to pit during the stage breaks. If any competitors elect not to pit, they will line up ahead of those that pit, on the restart. For those that choose to pit, NASCAR will implement a controlled pit stop system that does not allow vehicles to race on to or off pit road.
Notes:
During the Pinty’s Truck Race on Dirt and the Cup Series Food City Dirt Race, caution-flag laps will count, while, as indicated above, only green-flag laps will count for the qualifying heats.
The choose rule which allows each driver to pick either the inside or outside line for restarts will not be in effect. The race leader will select the lane they prefer and serve as the control car on all restarts.
The Truck Series field will be comprised of 40 drivers, 35 from the heat races and five provisional slots based on 2021 owner points. The Cup Series field has 39 entries and all drivers will transfer to the main event.
NASCAR announced the following changes Saturday afternoon:
Stages lengths for the Cup Series race: Stage 1 will end on Lap 100 (previously Lap 75) and Stage 2 will end on Lap 200 (previously Lap 150).
Competition cautions for the Cup Series race: There will be two competition cautions, on Lap 50 and Lap 150 at the halfway point of each stage. This will allow the teams a chance to pit and will also give NASCAR two more opportunities for track preparation. Laps for stage breaks and during competition cautions will not count once the free pass car has been sent around.
Each team will receive one additional set of tires, for a total of six.
All times are Eastern.
Thursday, March 25
4 p.m.: Cup Series random drawing to determine the starting grid for qualifying heat races (No TV)
4:15 p.m.: Truck Series random drawing to determine the starting grid for qualifying heat races (No TV)
Friday, March 26
3:05 PM 3:55 p.m.: Truck Series First Practice – FS1
4:05 PM 4:55 p.m.: Cup Series First Practice – FS1
5:35 PM 6:25 p.m.: Truck Series Final Practice – FS1
6:35 PM 7:25 p.m.: Cup Series Final Practice – FS1
Saturday, March 27
4:30 p.m.: Truck Series First Qualifying Race (15 Laps) FS1 (11 trucks) – Canceled
4:45 p.m.: Truck Series Second Qualifying Race (15 Laps) FS1 (11 trucks) – Canceled
5:00 p.m.: Truck Series Third Qualifying Race (15 Laps) FS1 (11 trucks) – Canceled
5:15 p.m.: Truck Series Fourth Qualifying Race (15 Laps) FS1 (11 trucks) – Canceled
6:00 p.m.: Cup Series First Qualifying Race (15 Laps) FS1 (10 cars) – Canceled
6:15 p.m.: Cup Series Second Qualifying Race (15 Laps) FS1 (10 cars) – Canceled
6:30 p.m.: Cup Series Third Qualifying Race (15 Laps) FS1 (10 cars) – Canceled
6:45 p.m.: Cup Series Fourth Qualifying Race (15 Laps) FS1 (9 cars) – Canceled
8 p.m.: Pinty’s Truck Race on Dirt (Stages 40/90/150 Laps = 75 Miles) FS1/ MRN/ SiriusXM NASCAR Radio – Postponed
Sunday, March 28 – Postponed to Monday, March 29
3:30 p.m.: Cup Series Food City Dirt Race (Stages 75/150/250 Laps = 125 Miles) (FOX/PRN/TSN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio – Postponed to Monday, March 29 at 4 p.m. and will air on FOX/PRN/TSN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
9 p.m.: Pinty’s Truck Race on Dirt (Stages 40/90/150 Laps = 75 Miles) FS2/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio – Postponed to Monday, March, 29 at noon and will air on FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
LOVE the article and I’m VERY excited for this weekend!!!
Not to be rude, and with all due respect, but one line of the article should be re-penned as “The race leader will select the lane he [or she] prefers and serve as the control car on all restarts.” as the sentence refers to the Truck race which will have female participants.
So excited for this weekend!
Thanks for the feedback, replaced the word “he” with “they” so it isn’t gender-specific.