Here’s all you need to know for the first Sprint Cup road course race of the season.
(All times are Eastern):
START: Ruben Arminana, Sonoma State University President, will give the command to start engines at 3:08 p.m. Green flag is set for 3:20 p.m.
DISTANCE: The race is 110 laps (218.9 miles) around the 1.99-mile road course.
PRERACE SCHEDULE: Sprint Cup garage opens at 10 a.m. Driver/crew chief meeting is at 1 p.m. Driver introductions begin at 2:30 p.m. The invocation will be given at 3 p.m. by Tim Bove, track minister at Sonoma Raceway.
NATIONAL ANTHEM: Q Smith, Transcendence Theatre’s Broadway Under the Stars in Sonoma Valley, will perform the anthem at 3:01 p.m.
TV/RADIO: Fox Sports 1 will broadcast the race at 3 p.m. (RaceDay begins at 1:30 p.m.) Performance Racing Network’s broadcast on radio and at goprn.com begins at 2 p.m. SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will carry the PRN broadcast.
FORECAST: wunderground.com forecasts a temperature of 83 degree with 0 percent chance of rain at the start of the race.
LAST TIME: Kyle Busch took the lead with five laps left to win this race a year ago. Kurt Busch finished second with Clint Bowyer third. Jimmie Johnson led a race-high 45 laps and finished sixth.
STARTING LINEUP:
