TALLADEGA, Ala. — It’s NASCAR race day at Talladega Speedway, and we’ve got all the information you need to get ready for today’s Sprint Cup Series race.
START TIME: An Air Force serviceman will instruct drivers to start their engines at 1:02 p.m. ET today (12:02 p.m. local), followed by the green flag at 1:19 p.m. ET.
RACE DISTANCE: The GEICO 500 is 188 laps around the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway, NASCAR's biggest track, for a total of 500 miles.
NATIONAL ANTHEM: The 313th U.S. Army Band will perform the national anthem prior to today's race.
TV/RADIO SCHEDULE: FOX will broadcast the race on TV and has a pre-race show beginning at 12:30 ET. The Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius/XM Radio will call the race on the radio.
WEATHER: Iffy. The National Weather Service is calling for showers and thunderstorms after 10 a.m. Overall, it should be cloudy with a high near 81. Chance of rain? It's 70%, according to the NWS.
LAST TIME: Joey Logano held off Dale Earnhardt Jr. as Kevin Harvick triggered a crash on a green-white-checkered, and NASCAR ruled Logano was ahead when the caution came out. And one year ago, Earnhardt dominated the Talladega race and drove to victory lane.
STARTING LINEUP: Rookie Chase Elliott, who took over the No. 24 from the retired Jeff Gordon, won his second straight restrictor-plate race pole. Elliott was also on the pole for the Daytona 500.
Here's the starting lineup for today's NASCAR race at Talladega:
- Chase Elliott
- Austin Dillon
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Matt Kenseth
- Jimmie Johnson
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Brad Keselowski
- Denny Hamlin
- Carl Edwards
- Paul Menard
- Kasey Kahne
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Trevor Bayne
- Ty Dillon
- Ryan Newman
- Greg Biffle
- Kyle Busch
- Kurt Busch
- Ryan Blaney
- Casey Mears
- Brian Scott
- Joey Logano
- Aric Almirola
- Kyle Larson
- Regan Smith
- Bobby Labonte
- Chris Buescher
- AJ Allmendinger
- Kevin Harvick
- Jamie McMurray
- Michael McDowell
- Landon Cassill
- Michael Waltrip
- Clint Bowyer
- Matt DiBenedetto
- Cole Whitt
- Danica Patrick
- Michael Annett
- David Gilliland
- David Ragan
Follow Gluck on Twitter @jeff_gluck
PHOTOS: 2016 Sprint Cup race winners
