NASCAR championship at Homestead 2017: Start time, lineup, TV schedule, more
It's Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race day at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and we've got some essential information you need to get ready for Sunday’s championship race, the Ford EcoBoost 400:
START TIME: Drivers will start their engines at 2:52 p.m. Eastern time today, followed by the green flag at 3 p.m.
RACE DISTANCE: The Ford EcoBoost 400 is 267 laps around the 1.5-mile Homestead-Miami Speedway for a total of 400 miles.
SEGMENTS: Beginning this season, NASCAR divided every race into segments and awarded points to the top-10 finishers of each stage and one extra bonus point to the winner of each stage. Here are the segments for the Ford EcoBoost 400: Stage 1: 80 laps; Stage 80: laps; Stage 3: 107 laps.
CHAMPIONSHIP FOUR: The 2017 championship will be awarded to the top driver among the final four contenders with the highest finish in Sunday's race. The final four: Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick.
NATIONAL ANTHEM/FLYOVER: Ryan Carson will perform the national anthem at 2:46 p.m. followed by a flyover by four F-16's from the 93rd Fighter Squadron of Homestead Air Reserve Base.
TV/RADIO SCHEDULE: NBC will broadcast the race on TV and has a pre-race show beginning at 2 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.
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FAREWELL: Dale Earnhardt Jr., who announced his retirement from full-time racing earlier this season, will race for the final time in the Cup Series Sunday. It is also the final race at Homestead-Miami Speedway for Danica Patrick and perhaps the final race of a championship career for Matt Kenseth.
WEATHER: Near perfect conditions. The National Weather Service is calling for sunny skies with a high near 82 degrees and a westerly wind around 6 mph giving way to clear skies and cooler temperatures after sundown.
LAST TIME: Jimmie Johnson scored his first career win at Homestead and won his record-tying seventh championship in dramatic fashion after title contenders Carl Edwards and Joey Logano crashed on a restart while battling for the lead on lap 258. After another caution on the next restart on lap 263, Johnson took control on the final restart, leading the final three laps and taking the checkered flag.
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STARTING LINEUP: Denny Hamlin edged championship contender Martin Truex Jr. to claim the pole for the final race of the season, but Truex will have the highest starting position among the final four drivers, all of whom will start in the top 10.
Here's the starting lineup the Ford EcoBoost 400 car number in parentheses):
*-Championship contender
1. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota
*-2. (78) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota
*-3. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota
4. (20) Matt Kenseth, Toyota
*-5. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford
6. (17) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford
7. (42) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet
8. (41) Kurt Busch, Ford
*-9. (4) Kevin Harvick, Ford
10. (19) Daniel Suarez, Toyota
11. (21) Ryan Blaney, Ford
12. (6) Trevor Bayne, Ford
13. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet
14. (77) Erik Jones, Toyota
15. (27) Paul Menard, Chevrolet
16. (14) Clint Bowyer, Ford
17. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet
18. (24) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet
19. (22) Joey Logano, Ford
20. (43) Aric Almirola, Ford
21. (31) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet
22. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet
23. (95) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet
24. (88) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet
25. (10) Danica Patrick, Ford
26. (47) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet
27. (5) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet
28. (34) Landon Cassill, Ford
29. (37) Chris Buescher, Chevrolet
30. (38) David Ragan, Ford
31. (32) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford
32. (13) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet
33. (72) Cole Whitt, Chevrolet
34. (23) Corey LaJoie, Toyota
35. (83) Joey Gase, Toyota
36. (33) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Chevrolet
37. (15) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet
38. (66) David Starr, Chevrolet
39. (51) Ray Black II, Chevrolet
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