NASCAR Cup at Texas Motor Speedway 2018: Start time, lineup, TV, more
It's NASCAR race day in Fort Worth and we've got some essential information you need to get ready for Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
START TIME: Kix Brooks, of country music group Brooks & Dunn and the host of American Country Countdown, will instruct drivers to start their engines at 2:01 p.m. ET (1:01 local) followed by the green flag at at 2:10 p.m. (1:10 local).
RACE DISTANCE: The O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 is 334 laps around the 1.5-mile track for a total of 501 miles.
RACE STAGES: After a successful run last season, NASCAR will once again be dividing races into stages and handing out points. Here are the segments for today's Cup race: Stage 1: 85 laps, Stage 2: 85 laps, Stage 3: 164 laps.
NATIONAL ANTHEM: Lewis Warren Jr, award-winning pianist and student at the New England Conservatory of Music, will perform the national anthem at 1:55 p.m. ET (12:55 p.m. local) followed by a flyover by the 71st Fighter Squadron of Langley Air Force Base.
TV/RADIO SCHEDULE: Fox Sports 1 will broadcast the Cup race and has a pre-race show beginning at 12:30 p.m. ET (11:30 a.m. local). The Performance Racing Network and Sirius/XM NASCAR Radio will call the event on the radio.
LIVE STREAMING: Fox is offering a live stream through its Fox Sports Go app.
PREVIEW: Speed is name of the game at Texas Motor Speedway
HARVICK: Looks to continue to ride wave at Texas
JOHNSON: Looks for Texas mojo to end winless streak
TEXAS: Defends gun celebration in victory lane
WEATHER: The Weather Channel is calling for sunny skies but uncharacteristically cool temperatures with race-time weather in the low-mid 60s.
LAST TIME: Kevin Harvick led the final 10 laps and 38 overall to score his first Cup victory at Texas and clinch a berth in the 2017 final four at Homestead-Miami Speedway. And one year ago, Jimmie Johnson took the lead on lap 318 and led the final 17 laps at the 2017 spring race to win for the seventh time in Fort Worth.
LINEUP: Kurt Busch was fastest in Round 1 of knockout qualifying Friday before the threat of lightning around the track prompted NASCAR to cancel Rounds 2 and 3 of time trials, handing the pole to Busch, who led a sweep of the top three spots by Stewart-Haas Racing drivers.
Here is the starting lineup for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 (car number in parentheses):
1. (41) Kurt Busch, Ford
2. (4) Kevin Harvick, Ford
3. (14) Clint Bowyer, Ford
4. (12) Ryan Blaney, Ford
5. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota
6. (78) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota
7. (22) Joey Logano, Ford
8. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota
9. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet
10. (42) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet
11. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford
12. (10) Aric Almirola, Ford
13. (6) Trevor Bayne, Ford
14. (19) Daniel Suarez, Toyota
15. (43) Darrell Wallace Jr., Chevrolet
16. (88) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet
17. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet
18. (37) Chris Buescher, Chevrolet
19. (21) Paul Menard, Ford
20. (9) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet
21. (20) Erik Jones, Toyota
22. (47) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet
23. (13) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet
24. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet
25. (31) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet
26. (17) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford
27. (34) Michael McDowell, Ford
28. (95) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet
29. (38) David Ragan, Ford
30. (32) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford
31. (15) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet
32. (23) Gray Gaulding, Toyota
33. (24) William Byron, Chevrolet
34. (72) Cole Whitt, Chevrolet
35. (00) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet
36. (51) Harrison Rhodes, Chevrolet
37. (55) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet
Follow Horrow on Twitter @EllenJHorrow