NASCAR at Chicagoland: Start time, lineup, TV for first race of Chase
JOLIET, Ill. — It’s NASCAR race day at Chicagoland Speedway, and we’ve got all the information you need to get ready for today’s Sprint Cup Series race — the opener of the 2016 Chase for the Sprint Cup.
START TIME: Greg Cipes, the voice of Michelangelo in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, will instruct drivers to start their engines today at 2:37 p.m. Eastern (1:37 Central), followed by the green flag at 2:46 p.m. ET (1:46 Central).
RACE DISTANCE: The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 is 267 laps around the 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway for a total of 400.5 miles.
NATIONAL ANTHEM/FLYOVER: Jim Cornelison, who famously sings the national anthem at Chicago Blackhawks games, will belt out the song prior to today's race. Then a pair of A-10s from the Indiana National Guard will do a flyover.
TV/RADIO SCHEDULE: NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) will broadcast the race on TV and has a pre-race show beginning at 2 p.m. ET. The Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius/XM Radio will call the race on the radio.
LIVE STREAMING: NBC is offering a live stream through its app.
WEATHER: Beautiful. The National Weather Service is calling for mostly sunny skies with a high of 77 and calm winds with no chance of rain.
LAST TIME: Denny Hamlin opened the 2015 Chase with a victory at Chicagoland after staying out on old tires and holding off the field on a restart with five laps to go.
STARTING LINEUP: Due to rain Friday morning, NASCAR canceled qualifying in favor of practice time on Friday evening. That means the starting lineup will be in order of owner points, which are also the Chase standings.
Here's the starting lineup for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400:
- Kyle Busch
- Brad Keselowski
- Denny Hamlin
- Kevin Harvick
- Carl Edwards
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Matt Kenseth
- Jimmie Johnson
- Joey Logano
- Kyle Larson
- Tony Stewart
- Kurt Busch
- Chris Buescher
- Chase Elliott
- Austin Dillon
- Jamie McMurray
- Alex Bowman
- Ryan Newman
- Kasey Kahne
- Trevor Bayne
- AJ Allmendinger
- Ryan Blaney
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Greg Biffle
- Danica Patrick
- Paul Menard
- Aric Almirola
- Clint Bowyer
- Casey Mears
- Michael McDowell
- Landon Cassill
- David Ragan
- Regan Smith
- Brian Scott
- Matt DiBenedetto
- Cole Whitt
- Michael Annett
- Joey Gase
- Reed Sorenson
- Josh Wise
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