After the chaos of Bristol, NASCAR now prepares for a packed weekend of racing action at Kansas Speedway. As the drivers head to the 1.5-mile track, they can expect to go full throttle for a lot longer without having to worry about excessive tire wear, compared to how the scenario has been in past weekends. So let’s look at the schedule for the three back-to-back races for the upcoming weekend.

Schedule & TV timings

It is quite apparent that the 48,000-seat capacity around the track is just not enough for racing fans across America. But not to worry, as the entire weekend will be streamed on multiple platforms. [All times mentioned are in ET]

Friday, 17 April

The weekend will kick off with the ARCA Menards Series’ open practice session at 09:30 a.m., followed by the practice and qualifying sessions at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. However, none of these sessions will be streamed.

The first session of the day to be streamed will be the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series practice session at 7 p.m. This will be available to watch on the CW App. It will also stream the upcoming qualifying session at 08:05 p.m.

Saturday, 18 April

This will be the most packed day of the entire weekend. The racing action will begin with ARCA’s Tide 150 at 12:30 pm. It will be available to watch on the FS1 channel. It will be followed by the first Cup Series event of the weekend, with the practice and qualifying beginning at 4 p.m., available to watch on Prime Video.

At 7 p.m., the NOAPS will return to the track to host the Kansas Lottery 300, available to watch on CW.

Sunday, 19 April

This will be the least active, yet the most awaited day on the track. The Cup Series drivers will kick off the AdventHealth 400 at 2 p.m. The race will be available to watch on FOX One, FOX, and HBO Max.

Weather-wise, the weekend should be easy-going. Apart from a windy, thunderstorm forecast for Friday (as per The Weather Channel), the rest of the days seem to be rather comfortable. Saturday should witness a peak of 60° with the mercury dipping to 36° at night.

Meanwhile, Sunday could be relatively hotter with a peak of 73°, meaning the Cup drivers will have hot asphalt to deal with as they prepare for the race.

What are the odds for the Cup Series race?

This could be an interesting race, with Denny Hamlin being a favorite for the race win. While he only finished the Bristol race in ninth place earlier, he was a strong contender for victory in the early stages. Moreover, he has been rather consistent this year, pulling off an impressive result with a win at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway earlier. Considering the layout of Kansas, he could contend for victory once again.

However, he wouldn’t be the only Joe Gibbs Racing driver to contend for a race win. The second-favorite for the race is understood to be his own teammate, Christopher Bell. He has been battling for a race win for a long time this season. With three consecutive top-four finishes early, he has proven himself to be a strong contender for Kansas.

But the only driver who could seemingly end the party for the JGR lineup at the top is none other than the 2024 champion, Kyle Larson. It has been a long wait for the Hendrick Motorsports driver this season. While Chevrolet has not performed quite at the top so far, they have been making a comeback. He was a contender for the race win at Bristol, and he could very well repeat that with more success heading into Kansas.

For these drivers, this race will hold more than just a race win and an early contention to sit in the Chase for the championship later this season, as a NASCAR insider recently hinted at the possible purse.

Winning purse for the weekend at Kansas

As per insider Bob Pockrass, the purse for the Cup Series at Kansas (inclusive of all payouts, positions, and contingency awards) is a whopping $11,233,037. And for the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, it is estimated to be $1,753,590.

This isn’t a massive increase for the Cup Series. Last year, Pockrass reported $11,055,250 to be the purse. So while there is some difference, it is not massive.

But at the end of the day, the Kansas Speedway is more than just the winner’s purse. The racing it provides is quite iconic. As NASCAR now returns to a bigger track after a chaotic weekend at Bristol, quite strong racing can be expected from the drivers as they compete for the victory.