NASCAR Cup Series at Texas 2017: Start time, lineup, TV, more
It's NASCAR race day at Texas Motor Speedway, and we've got some essential information you need to get ready for Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500.
START TIME: Jim Rome will instruct drivers to start their engines at 1:38 p.m. ET today, followed by the green flag at 1:46 p.m. So if you want to skip the pre-race show and just tune in for the race, turn on your TV by 1:46 p.m.
RACE DISTANCE: The O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 is 334 laps around the 1.5-mile track for a total of 501 miles.
SEGMENTS: Beginning this season, NASCAR is dividing every race into segments and awarding one bonus point to the winner of each stage. Segment lengths will be different for every race. Also, the top 10 finishers of segments 1 and 2 will be awarded regular-season points in descending order from 10 to 1. Here are the segments for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500: Stage 1: 85 laps; Stage 2: 85 laps; Stage 3: 164 laps.
NATIONAL ANTHEM/FLYOVER: Danielle Peck will perform the national anthem before today's race. Four U.S. Air Force F-15's will perform a flyover.
TV/RADIO SCHEDULE: Fox will broadcast today's race and has a pre-race show beginning at 1 p.m. ET. Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR will call the race on the radio.
MORE NASCAR COVERAGE:
LIVE STREAMING: Fox is offering a live stream through its Fox Sports Go app.
WEATHER: Comfortable temperatures but could be very windy. The Weather Channel is calling for partly cloudy skies, a high of 86 degrees and a 10% chance of rain.
LAST TIME: Carl Edwards, who stepped away from NASCAR this season and perhaps permanently, scored what could end up being the last win of his Cup Series career in the November race that was shortened to 293 laps because of rain. That win allowed him to advance to the championship round at Homestead-Miami Speedway. And one year ago, Kyle Busch secured his second weekend sweep at Texas in four years, taking victories in both the Xfinity and Cup series races in April.
STARTING LINEUP: Kevin Harvick will start on the pole after posting the top times in all three rounds of qualifying Friday. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver will be joined on the front row by Ryan Blaney, who drives for Wood Brothers Racing. Nine of the 40 cars in the race didn't make it through inspection in time to make qualifying runs. Those included series points leader Kyle Larson, three of the four drivers for Hendrick Motorsports and defending race winner Kyle Busch.
Here's the starting lineup for today's NASCAR race at Texas Motor Speedway (car number in parentheses):
1. (4) Kevin Harvick, Ford
2. (21) Ryan Blaney, Ford
3. (14) Clint Bowyer, Ford
4. (22) Joey Logano, Ford
5. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford
6. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet
7. (78) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota
8. (20) Matt Kenseth, Toyota
9. (31) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet
10. (41) Kurt Busch, Ford
11. (17) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford
12. (6) Trevor Bayne, Ford
13. (95) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet
14. (13) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet
15. (34) Landon Cassill, Ford
16. (47) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet
17. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota
18. (43) Aric Almirola, Ford
19. (10) Danica Patrick, Ford
20. (19) Daniel Suarez, Toyota
21. (38) David Ragan, Ford
22. (27) Paul Menard, Chevrolet
23. (83) Corey LaJoie, Toyota
24. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet
25. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet
26. (32) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford
27. (7) JJ Yeley, Chevrolet
28. (72) Cole Whitt, Chevrolet
29. (23) Gray Gaulding, Toyota
30. (15) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet
31. (33) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Chevrolet
32. (42) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet
33. (24) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet
34. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota
35. (5) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet
36. (77) Erik Jones, Toyota
37. (88) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet
38. (37) Chris Buescher, Chevrolet
39. (51) Timmy Hill, Chevrolet
40. (55) Derrike Cope, Toyota
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PHOTOS: 2017 NASCAR CUP SERIES WINNERS