The Cup Series gets back to action as the 26-race regular season hits the halfway mark with tonight’s Coca-Cola 600, the longest race of the season.
Brad Keselowski was the most recent Cup points-paying race winner two weeks ago at Kansas, his third triumph of the season, tying him for most wins in 2019 with Kyle Busch.
Stewart-Haas Racing continues to look for its first win of this season after 12 victories last season. Will Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, Aric Almirola or Daniel Suarez (still looking for his first career Cup win) finally break through? What about Hendrick Motorsports? And let’s not forget Joe Gibbs Racing, which has won seven of the first 12 races, as well as Team Penske (four wins).
Here’s all the info you need for tonight’s event:
(All times are Eastern)
START: General Robert Neller, 37th Commandant of the United States Marine Corps, will give the command to start engines at 6:10 p.m. The green flag is scheduled to wave at 6:18 p.m.
PRERACE: Garage opens at 12:30 p.m. The drivers meeting is at 4 p.m. Driver introductions will begin at 5:20 p.m. The invocation will be given by Will Graham, Vice President and Associate Evangelist of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, at 6 p.m. The Charlotte Fire Department Pipe Band will perform Amazing Grace at 6:01 p.m. Taps will be performed at 6:02 p.m. by SSG James Old, bugler from Fort Bragg. MUC William Edwards will perform the National Anthem at 6:03 p.m.
DISTANCE: The race is 400 laps (600 miles) around the 1.5-mile track.
STAGES: Stage 1 ends on Lap 100. Stage 2 ends on Lap 200. Stage 3 ends on Lap 300.
TV/RADIO: FOX will broadcast the race at 6 p.m. Coverage begins at 4:30 p.m. with NASCAR RaceDay on FS1 and switches to Fox at 5:30 p.m. Performance Racing Network will broadcast the race. PRN’s coverage begins at 5 p.m. SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will carry PRN’s broadcast, which is also available at goPRN.com.
FORECAST: wunderground.com calls for partly cloudy skies with a high of 92 degrees and a 0 percent chance of rain for the start of the race.
LAST TIME: Kyle Busch won last year’s Coca-Cola 600, finishing ahead of Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin. Last fall’s playoff race was held on the Roval. Ryan Blaney won, followed by Jamie McMurray and Clint Bowyer.
TO THE REAR: Matt Tifft (failed inspection twice). He qualified 26th.
STARTING LINEUP: Click here for the starting lineup.
