After great anticipation, the long-awaited return of the Southern 500 to the Labor Day weekend at Darlington Raceway is upon us.
More than 30 NASCAR Sprint Cup teams will have retro-looking paint schemes to recall some of the greatest Southern 500s from the 1970s.
Plus, fans who have long clamored for the race to return to Labor Day weekend are excited to either attend or watch the prime-time Sunday telecast on NBC.
Here’s the weekend schedule (all times listed are Eastern):
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4
9 am – 7:30 pm – Sprint Cup garage open
10 am – 8 pm – Xfinity garage open
11 am – 12:55 pm – Sprint Cup practice (NBCSN, MRN)
1 pm – 1:55 pm – Xfinity practice (NBCSN)
3 pm – 4:25 pm – Final Xfinity practice (NBCSN)
4:30 pm – 6:25 pm – Final Sprint Cup practice (NBCSN, MRN)
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5
7 am – 6 pm – Sprint Cup garage open
9:30 am – Xfinity garage opens
11:45 am – Xfinity qualifying (NBCSN)
1:15 pm – Xfinity driver/crew chief meeting
1:45 pm – Sprint Cup qualifying (NBCSN, MRN)
3 pm – Xfinity driver introductions
3:30 pm – VFW SportClips Help A Hero 200 Xfinity race (147 laps, 200.8 miles) (NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 6
1 pm – Sprint Cup garage opens
5 pm – Sprint Cup driver/crew chief meeting
6:25 pm – Sprint Cup driver introductions
7 pm – Bojangles Southern 500 Sprint Cup race (367 laps, 501.3 miles) (NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
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