NASCAR Preps for Packed Cross-Country Schedule

The NASCAR season continues with a packed weekend featuring races in two different states. Here is the schedule for the three national series races, as well as the ARCA Menards Series West race.

The weekend will begin on Friday, June 2. The ARCA Menards Series West drivers will practice at Portland International Raceway at 5 p.m. ET (no TV) and then they will qualify at 6:10 p.m. ET. The series will then compete at the Oregon road course at 8 p.m. ET (FloRacing).

Meanwhile, The Truck Series drivers will practice at World Wide Technology Raceway at 6 p.m. ET (FS1) before qualifying at 6:30 p.m. ET (FS1). The Truck Series drivers will not race until Saturday, June 3, at 1:30 p.m. ET (FS1).

The Xfinity Series drivers get to work at Portland International Raceway on Saturday, June 3. They practice at 11:30 a.m. ET (no TV) before qualifying at 12 p.m. ET (FS1). The Xfinity Series race will then take place at 4:30 p.m. ET (FS1).

The Cup Series drivers have two days of on-track action. They will practice on June 3 at 10 a.m. ET (FS1). They will then qualify at 10:45 a.m. ET (FS1). The Cup Series race will then take place on Sunday, June 4, at 3:30 p.m. ET (FS1).

---

The ARCA Race Features Multiple NASCAR Drivers

With the Xfinity Series returning to Portland International Raceway, there will be some drivers that have no experience on the road course. Cole Custer is a prominent example considering that he was in Illinois during the 2022 Xfinity Series race at PIR.

Custer will be one of the Xfinity Series drivers that pulls double duty during the trip to Oregon. He will suit up for High Point Racing while making his first ARCA start since the 2017 season. Meanwhile, teammate Riley Herbst will drive for Jerry Pitts.

Kyle Sieg will also join the ARCA West lineup while driving the No. 46 for Lowden-Jackson Motorsports. Sieg has multiple starts across the ARCA series, but none have taken place at Portland International Raceway.

Rounding out the list of guest drivers is Parker Retzlaff. The young driver made nine starts in the Xfinity Series in 2022 before moving to a full-time schedule with Jordan Anderson Racing in 2023. He did not take part in the trip to Oregon, so he will gain some experience while driving for Young’s Motorsports.

---

Multiple Drivers Make Their WWT Raceway Cup Series Debut

While Custer will make his first start at Portland International Raceway, there will be other drivers that make their debut at World Wide Technology Raceway. This list includes two rookies, two drivers with 188 combined starts, and a Truck Series regular.

Noah Gragson and Ty Gibbs will continue their Rookie of the Year battle while making their Cup Series debut at WWT Raceway. They both took on PIR during the 2022 season. Gragson, who has two Truck Series starts at the track, will try to rebound from two mechanical issues that ended his day early at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Gibbs, for comparison, has one previous start at WWT Raceway in the ARCA Menards Series. He started eighth overall, and he led 32 laps before winning. Now, he will take on the track for the first time as a Cup Series driver.

The veteran drivers are Gray Gaulding (59 Cup starts) and Ryan Preece (129 Cup starts). Gaulding will make his first start at the top level of NASCAR since the 2020 season as he drives the No. 15 Ford Mustang for Rick Ware Racing.

Preece will continue with his full-time season while driving the No. 41 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing. As a reserve driver in 2022, he was not on the entry list for the inaugural Cup Series race at WWT Raceway, nor has he made any Truck Series starts at the track. Preece also made his Xfinity Series debut after the series stopped heading to WWT Raceway.

Rounding out the list is Carson Hocevar. The Truck Series regular, who has three starts at WWT Raceway, will make his Cup Series debut while pulling double duty. He will replace Corey LaJoie in the No. 7 while the Spire Motorsports driver replaces a suspended Chase Elliott in the No. 9.

0 Comments