With many of motorsports’ top series taking the traditional route and not racing on Easter weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series will take center stage with its annual event at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
The World of Outlaws and Monster Energy Supercross will each hold significant events on their respective schedules, while many racing series will again attempt to beat Mother Nature and get their seasons under way.
Bristol Dirt
The NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will race on dirt at Bristol Motor Speedway for the third consecutive season.
It will be the second straight year the events have been run on Easter weekend at the historic .533-mile facility.
Both series hit the track for practice on Friday. Heat races for both will run Saturday afternoon, with the Truck Series main event set for 8 p.m. Saturday night and the Bristol Dirt Race for the Cup Series going green at 7 p.m. on Sunday.
Joey Logano and Kyle Busch are the previous winners of the Bristol Dirt Race.
WoO Double
The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series is scheduled to run twice this weekend as it begins an April trek through the Midwest and Plains states.
Action begins Friday at U.S. 36 Raceway in Eldon, Mo., where the series last raced in 2020. Sheldon Haudenschild claimed victory the last time the series competed at the three-eighths-mile track.
The following night, the series makes its first visit to 81 Speedway, located near Wichita, Kan., in six years for the running of the fifth annual Jason Johnson Classic that will pay $20,000 to the winning driver and team.
Ten-time series champion Donny Schatz is the only active WoO driver with a victory at 81 Speedway, having won there in 2016 and ’17. Jacob Allen won last year’s Jason Johnson Classic when it was run at Lake Ozark Speedway.
Supercross Returns
After a rare off weekend, the Monster Energy AMA Supercross tour returns to action Saturday night at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.
While reigning series champion Eli Tomac has won six of the 11 races this season, he enters round 12 tied atop the standings with Cooper Webb. It will be the third Triple Crown event of the Supercross campaign. Tomac won last year’s Glendale event.
500 Sprint Tour Debut
The 23rd annual Glen Niebel Classic is scheduled to kick off the 500 SprintCar Tour season Saturday at Anderson (Ind.) Speedway.
Reigning series champion Kody Swanson leads a stellar field of entries for the first of 10 events on the series schedule. Last year’s Glen Niebel Classic was run in July with Kyle O’Gara taking the checkered flag.
Others expected to contend for the victory include Dakoda Armstrong, Bobby Santos III, Taylor Ferns, Tyler Roahrig and Billy Wease.
Try, Try Again
The AMSOIL USAC Sprint Car Championship will attempt to open its Midwest season for the second consecutive weekend at Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway.
The NARC 410 sprint cars will try to beat the weather for the first time this year Friday night at California’s Keller Auto Speedway. After a rain out last weekend, the annual Icebreaker at Thompson (Conn.) Speedway Motorsports Park, will also reboot this Friday and Saturday.