NASCAR Cup Series playoffs at Talladega 2017: Start time, lineup, TV, more
It’s NASCAR race day at Talladega Superspeedway, and we’ve got some essential information you need to get ready for Sunday's Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Alabama 500:
START TIME: Kay Ivery, the 54th Governor of Alabama, will instruct drivers to start their engines at 2:07 p.m. ET. (1:07 local), followed by the green flag at 2:19 p.m. (1:19 p.m. Central Daylight Time).
RACE DISTANCE: The Alabama 500 is 188 laps around the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway. That's 500.08 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 Apache Warrior 400: Stage 1: 55 laps; Stage 2: 55 laps; Stage 3: 78 laps.
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NATIONAL ANTHEM/FLYOVER: The 313th United States Army Band out of Birmingham, Ala., will perform the national anthem at 2:01 p.m. ET, followed by a USAF Heritage Flyover, featuring an F-16 Fighting Falcon and a P-51 Mustang.
TV/RADIO SCHEDULE: NBC will broadcast the race on TV and has a pre-race show beginning at 1:30 p.m. ET. Motor Racing Network and Sirius/XM NASCAR Radio will call the race on the radio.
LIVE STREAMING: NBCSports.com will live-stream the race for those who sign in with their cable/satellite provider's credentials.
WEATHER: The National Weather Service is calling for partly sunny skies and a high near 83 degrees. There is a chance of showers in the morning, then a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after the green flag.
JUNIOR WATCH: Dale Earnhardt Jr. returns for his final race at his most successful track before retiring from Cup racing at the end of the season. Earnhardt has won six times (most recently in 2015) in 34 races at Talladega, with 12 top-five and 16-top 10 finishes. Talladega is clearly Earnhardt territory as it is also the track where Dale Earnhardt Sr. earned the most wins of his career (10).
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LAST TIME: Rick Stenhouse Jr. started on the pole in the spring race then earned his first career Cup Series win after taking the lead on an overtime restart to book a spot in the playoffs. And one year ago, Joey Logano led the final 45 laps in last year's second-round elimination race to advance in the playoffs.
STARTING LINEUP: Dale Earnhardt Jr. won his first career pole at Talladega, his second of the season and the 15th of his career. He will start alongside Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott, who qualified second.
Here is the starting lineup for the Alabama 500 (car number in parentheses):
1. (88) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet
2. (24) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet
3. (22) Joey Logano, Ford
4. (41) Kurt Busch, Ford
5. (17) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford
6. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford
7. (14) Clint Bowyer, Ford
8. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet
9. (21) Ryan Blaney, Ford
10. (6) Trevor Bayne, Ford
11. (5) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet
12. (42) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet
13. (10) Danica Patrick, Ford
14. (19) Daniel Suarez, Toyota
15. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota
16. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota
17. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet
18. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet
19. (20) Matt Kenseth, Toyota
20. (27) Paul Menard, Chevrolet
21. (78) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota
22. (4) Kevin Harvick, Ford
23. (77) Erik Jones, Toyota
24. (47) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet
25. (13) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet
26. (43) Aric Almirola, Ford
27. (31) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet
28. (37) Chris Buescher, Chevrolet
29. (95) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet
30. (34) Landon Cassill, Ford
31. (7) Justin Marks, Chevrolet
32. (32) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford
33. (38) David Ragan, Ford
34. (33) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Chevrolet
35. (75) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet
36. (15) Mark Thompson, Chevrolet
37. (23) Joey Gase, Toyota
38. (72) Cole Whitt, Chevrolet
39. (83) Gray Gaulding, Toyota
40. (55) DJ Kennington, Toyota
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