LEXINGTON — The rising stars of NASCAR roar back into the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course this weekend.
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and its accompanying support races will be at Mid-Ohio on Friday and Saturday for the second annual O’Reilly Auto Parts 150.
The race, NASCAR’s only national stop in Ohio in 2023, will be the second and final road course on the truck series schedule.
The ARCA Menards Series also returns to Mid-Ohio for the second consecutive year as the Friday headliner in the Zinsser SmartCoat 150.
Open-wheel action rounds out the on-track schedule as the USF Juniors Presented by Cooper Tires compete in a tripleheader of races.
Five races total will take the green flag across the two-day event at the 2.258-mile, 13-turn natural terrain permanent road course.
The inaugural truck race at Mid-Ohio in 2022 was won by veteran racer Parker Kligerman for Henderson Motorsports, who took the checkered flag for the 67-lap race in 2:19:24, averaging 65.116 miles per hour.
Kligerman now competes full time for Big Machine Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. When he is not behind the wheel, Kligerman serves as a NASCAR analyst for NBC Sports.
Saturday’s race will be round 14 of 23 for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, again a 67-lap event that covers 151.28 miles.
It’s expected that a full field of 36 trucks will take the green flag for the race at 1:30 p.m., a race that will be broadcast by FS1.
Before 2022, the truck series’ last trip to the region came in 2008, when the now-defunct Mansfield Motorsports Park hosted the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Ohio 250.
The race — which was originally called the UAW/GM 250 and later the City of Mansfield 250 — was held at MMP from 2004 to 2008.
Mid-Ohio hosted a NASCAR Xfinity Series race from 2013 to 2019 and again in 2021.
For tickets, visit https://midohio.com/tickets.
Below is on the on-track schedule for Friday/Saturday:
FRIDAY
8:45 AM – 9:15 AM USF Juniors Practice
11:15 AM – 12:00 PM USF Juniors Qualifying
12:50 PM – 1:30 PM USF Juniors Race 1
1:45 PM – 2:45PM ARCA Menards Series Practice
3:00 PM – 3:20PM ARCA Menards Series Qualifying
4:00 PM – 4:30 PM NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks Series Practice
4:30 PM – 5:30 PM NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks Series Qualifying
5:45PM ARCA Menards Series Driver Introductions
6:00PM ARCA Menards Series Zinsser SmartCoat 150 (42 Laps)
SATURDAY
9:00 AM – 9:40 AM USF Juniors Race 2
11:00 AM – 11:45 AM NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks Series Autograph Session at Super Pavilion (first 200 people. Wristbands will be given out starting 10:30AM at the Pavilion)
11:30 AM – 12:10 PM USF Juniors Race 3
1:10 PM NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks Series Driver Introductions
1:30 PM NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 150 at Mid-Ohio (67 Laps)
ABOUT MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE
A comprehensive motorsports facility in Lexington, Ohio, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course sits on 380 acres and features a permanent road-racing circuit with two primary race track configurations: 2.4-mile, 15-turn or 2.258-mile, 13-turn layout. Located 60 miles north of Columbus and 75 miles south of Cleveland near Mansfield, the natural terrain road course is commonly referred to as the “Most Competitive in the U.S.” and annually hosts a diversity of locally, regionally and nationally sanctioned race events for amateur, club and professional drivers and riders. It is also home to The Mid-Ohio School, featuring over 20 driving and riding courses, for teenagers to professional racers using Honda vehicles. Opened in 1962, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course has been owned and operated by Green Savoree Mid-Ohio, LLC since 2011, just the raceway’s third private ownership group in its history.
