NASCAR at Fontana: Start time, lineup and more for the Auto Club 400
FONTANA, Calif. — It's NASCAR race day at Auto Club Speedway in Southern California, and we've got some essential information you need to get ready for today's sold-out Auto Club 400.
START TIME: The Great Gonzo -- yes, the puppet Gonzo of Muppets fame -- will instruct drivers to start their engines at 3:07 p.m. Eastern time (12:07 local), followed by the green flag at 3:16 p.m. So if you want to skip the pre-race show and just tune in for the race, turn on your TV at 3:16 p.m.
RACE DISTANCE: When drivers take the green flag -- which will be waved by Olympian Bode Miller -- they'll have to complete 200 laps around the 2-mile Auto Club Speedway for a total of 400 miles.
NATIONAL ANTHEM: Former American Idol finalist Pia Toscano will perform the national anthem today. Toscano has appeared at several NASCAR races to sing the national anthem. At the end of the anthem, the Blue Angels will perform a flyover.
TV/RADIO SCHEDULE: FOX will broadcast today's race and has a pre-race show beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET. The Motor Racing Network (MRN) will call the race on the radio.
WEATHER: The National Weather Service is calling for mostly cloudy skies which will gradually become sunny with a high near 72.
LAST TIME: If you somehow don't remember, Kyle Busch won the 2013 Auto Club 400 as Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano wrecked on the final lap. Logano and Tony Stewart got in a fight after the race.
STARTING LINEUP: Matt Kenseth got the pole position for Sunday's race -- the 12th of his career -- and Brad Keselowski picked up his fourth consecutive front-row starting spot.
Here's the starting lineup for today's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Fontana:
- Matt Kenseth
- Brad Keselowski
- Jimmie Johnson
- Kevin Harvick
- Clint Bowyer
- Jeff Gordon
- Joey Logano
- Marcos Ambrose
- Carl Edwards
- Tony Stewart
- Kyle Larson
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Denny Hamlin
- Kyle Busch
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Ryan Newman
- Kurt Busch
- AJ Allmendinger
- Brian Vickers
- Austin Dillon
- Aric Almirola
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Michael Annett
- Greg Biffle
- Jamie McMurray
- Kasey Kahne
- Danica Patrick
- Justin Allgaier
- David Gilliland
- Matt Crafton
- Casey Mears
- Parker Kligerman
- David Reutimann
- Cole Whitt
- Travis Kvapil
- Reed Sorenson
- Brian Scott
- Josh Wise
- Ryan Truex
- Alex Bowman
- David Ragan
- Joe Nemechek
- Landon Cassill