NASCAR at Darlington: Start time, lineup for Southern 500
DARLINGTON, S.C. — It's NASCAR race night at Darlington Raceway, and we've got some essential information you need to get ready for tonight's Bojangles' Southern 500.
START TIME: Bojangles CEO Clifton Rutledge, accompanied by a large chicken mascot named "Big Bo," will instruct drivers to start their engines at 6:37 p.m. Eastern time, followed by the green flag at 6:45 p.m. It's important to note the race is starting an hour earlier than most night races due to its length. So if you want to skip the pre-race show and just tune in for the race, turn on your TV at 6:37 p.m.
RACE DISTANCE: The Bojangles' Southern 500 is 367 laps around the 1.366-mile Darlington Raceway for a total of 501.3 miles. The Southern 500 was once a Labor Day tradition, but it has occupied several different dates in the last decade (including a shift from Mother's Day weekend to April this year).
NATIONAL ANTHEM: Miss South Carolina Brooke Mosteller will sing the national anthem for tonight's race.
TV/RADIO SCHEDULE: Fox will broadcast tonight's race and has a pre-race show beginning at 6 p.m. ET. The Motor Racing Network (MRN) will call the race on the radio.
WEATHER: The National Weather Service is calling for a gorgeous evening. Temperatures are expected to be in the mid-70s at the green flag and drop off to the low 60s by the finish. Rain is not in the forecast.
LAST TIME: Matt Kenseth passed Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch with 13 laps to go en route to a victory in last year's Southern 500. It was Kenseth's third win of the season; he went on to record a career-high seven victories.
STARTING LINEUP: Kevin Harvick won just the seventh pole of his 14-year NASCAR career on Friday, with Team Penske's Joey Logano recording another front row start for his organization.
Here's the starting lineup for tonight's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Darlington:
- Kevin Harvick
- Joey Logano
- Aric Almirola
- Marcos Ambrose
- Brad Keselowski
- Jamie McMurray
- Ryan Newman
- Kyle Busch
- Jeff Gordon
- Denny Hamlin
- Paul Menard
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Kurt Busch
- Brian Vickers
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Clint Bowyer
- Kyle Larson
- AJ Allmendinger
- Greg Biffle
- Austin Dillon
- Carl Edwards
- Kasey Kahne
- Tony Stewart
- Justin Allgaier
- Matt Kenseth
- Jimmie Johnson
- David Gilliland
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Josh Wise
- Michael Annett
- Casey Mears
- David Ragan
- Danica Patrick
- Alex Bowman
- Landon Cassill
- Dave Blaney
- David Stremme
- Parker Kligerman
- Ryan Truex
- Reed Sorenson
- Travis Kvapil
- Cole Whitt
- Joe Nemechek