Why There’s No NASCAR Race This Weekend

Following the rain-delayed Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, NASCAR fans began anticipating the next race on the schedule. However, they realized that they would have to wait until April 10 before watching their favorite drivers. NASCAR took one week off, and here is why.

All three of NASCAR’s series — Trucks, Xfinity, and Cup — are inactive this weekend due to Easter. The holiday takes place on Sunday, providing the drivers with extra time to spend with their families. Similarly, the Formula 1 drivers will not race this weekend after starting the season off with last Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix.

NASCAR has not regularly raced on Easter weekend. The fan-favorite motorsport’s top series has only raced on the holiday weekend 11 times in its 71-year history. According to TheRacingExperts.com, the first Easter race took place in 1953. Dick Passwater won his only Cup Series race, a dirt track event at Charlotte Speedway.

NASCAR also held races on Easter for five consecutive seasons between 1959 and 1963. “The King” Richard Petty won three of the races on Easter, topping every other driver in history. Junior Johnson sits just behind him on the list with two victories of his own on Easter weekend.

The last time NASCAR raced on Easter Sunday, 1989, Rusty Wallace secured a win at Richmond Raceway. There have also been eight races held the Saturday before Easter in NASCAR’s history. These events took place in 1952, 1958, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1971, and 1985.

Following the off-week, both the Xfinity and Cup Series will return to action. The Xfinity drivers will kick off the weekend with a race at Martinsville Speedway on Friday night. The Cup Series will then take over Saturday’s schedule with the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 at the same track. Fox Sports 1 will air the race, starting at 7:30 p.m. ET. Martin Truex Jr. is the defending winner at Martinsville, his second win at the track.

The 2021 season has sparked comments for the surprising outcomes each week. Seven different drivers have won the first seven races, a list that includes multiple first-timers. Michael McDowell started the season off with a Daytona 500 victory, and then Christopher Bell took the win at the Daytona Road Course. William Byron, Kyle Larson, Truex, Ryan Blaney, and Joey Logano have all joined them near the top of the points standings.