NASCAR at Darlington: Start time, lineup, TV, radio schedule for the Toyota 500
EDITOR'S NOTE: The start of this race has been delayed as track officials dry the oval following afternoon rain.
NASCAR will hold its second consecutive race at Darlington Raceway following its 10-week shutdown because of the coronavirus pandemic, and it is historic.
It will be the first Cup Series race in 36 years scheduled for a Wednesday night. The last time NASCAR's premiere series held a Wednesday night race, Richard Petty won his 200th career Cup race at Daytona International Speedway’s Firecracker 400 on July 4, 1984.
Unlike the raucous crowds who cheered on Petty, this race, like Sunday night's return to action, will be held without fans.
Here is all the information you need to get ready for Wednesday's Toyota 500 at Darlington:
START TIME: 6 p.m. ET.
TV: Fox Sports 1. Pre-race broadcast begins at 5 p.m. ET.
RADIO: Motor Racing Network. STREAMING: Fox Sports Go.
RACE DISTANCE: The Toyota 500 is neither 500 miles nor 500 laps — it is 500 kilometers. Instead, racers will turn 228 laps around the 1.366-mile track for a total of 311.4 miles.
STAGE LENGTHS (laps per stage): Stage 1: 60, Stage 2: 65, Stage 3: 103.
LAST RACE: Kevin Harvick led 159 of the 293 laps on Sunday night for his first win of the 2020 season and the 50th overall in his Cup Series career. Harvick bested Alex Bowman by 2.154 seconds.
STARTING LINEUP: The starting lineup for tonight's race uses the finishing order from Sunday as the basis for the lineup with one inversion:
- Starting positions 1-20: The top 20 finishers from the Sunday's event will be inverted for the start of Wednesday's race.
- Starting positions 21-40: The bottom 20 finishers from Sunday's event will start from their finishing positions for the start of Wednesday's race; any new entries will be placed at the tail of the field.
JTG Daugherty Racing's Ryan Preece will start on the pole, flanked on the front row by Germain Racing's Ty Dillon. Gray Gaulding and JJ Yeley will drop to the rear of the field because those teams made a driver change between the two races at Darlington this week.
Here is the starting lineup for Toyota 500 (car number in parentheses, followed by car make and team):
1. (37) Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, JTG Daugherty Racing
2. (13) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, Germain Racing
3. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, Team Penske
4. (14) Clint Bowyer, Ford, Stewart-Haas Racing
5. (12) Ryan Blaney, Ford, Team Penske
6. (6) Ryan Newman, Ford, Roush Fenway Racing
7. (21) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, Wood Brothers Racing
8. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford, Team Penske
9. (10) Aric Almirola, Ford, Stewart-Haas Racing
10. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing
11. (42) Matt Kenseth, Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing
12. (38) John Hunter Nemechek, Ford, Front Row Motorsports
13. (20) Erik Jones, Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing
14. (8) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing
15. (19) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing
16. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing
17. (9) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports
18. (1) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing
19. (88) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports
20. (4) Kevin Harvick, Ford, Stewart-Haas Racing
21. (43) Bubba Wallace, Chevrolet, R. Petty Motorsports
22. (41) Cole Custer, Ford, Stewart-Haas Racing
23. (34) Michael McDowell, Ford, Front Row Motorsports
24. (95) Christopher Bell, Toyota, Leavine Family Racing
25. (96) Daniel Suarez, Toyota Toyota, Gaunt Brothers Racing
26. (18) Kyle Busch) M& Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing
27. (15) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, Premium Motorsports
28. (27) Gray Gaulding, Chevrolet, Rick Ware Racing
29. (77) JJ Yeley, Chevrolet, Spire Motorsports
30. (51) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, Petty Ware Racing
31. (32) Corey LaJoie, Ford, GO FAS Racing
32. (17) Chris Buescher, Ford, Roush Fenway Racing
33. (66) Timmy Hill, Toyota, Motorsports Bus. Mgmt.
34. (24) William Byron, Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports
35. (00) Quin Houff, Chevrolet, StarCom Racing
36. (53) Garrett Smithley, Ford, Rick Ware Racing
37. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports
38. (78) BJ McLeod, Chevrolet, B.J. McLeod Motorsports
39. (47) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, JTG Daugherty Racing