MARTINSVILLE, Va. — The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will play host Sunday to the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 at Martinsville Speedway, the opener to the third round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup playoffs.
Here are the particulars (all times are ET):
START: Seven-time champion Richard Petty and Circle K Southeast Director of Marketing Tom Harman will give the command for drivers to start their engines at 1:10 p.m. ET. The green flag is scheduled for 1:15 p.m.
DISTANCE: The race is scheduled for 500 laps (263 miles) around the 0.526-mile oval.
COMPETITION CAUTION: Scheduled for Lap 45.
PRERACE SCHEDULE: The Sprint Cup garage will open at 7 a.m. The drivers meeting is at 11:15 a.m. Driver introductions are at 12:35 p.m.
NATIONAL ANTHEM: It will be performed by the North Carolina State marching band at 1:03 p.m.
TV/RADIO: NBCSN will broadcast the race (and streaming available at http://stream.nbcsports.com/liveextra) at 1:15 p.m. Coverage begins with NASCAR America at 11 a.m. on NBCSN and Countdown to Green at 12:30 p.m. on NBCSN. Motor Racing Network will broadcast the race on radio and at MRN.com. SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will carry MRN’s broadcast.
FORECAST: The wunderground.com site predicts 61 degrees at race time with a 15% chance of rain.
PAST TWO RACES: On March 29, Denny Hamlin fended off Brad Keselowski for his fifth victory at Martinsville. On Oct. 26, 2014, Dale Earnhardt Jr. seized the lead from Tony Stewart and led the final four laps of his last victory with crew chief Steve Letarte.
STARTING LINEUP:
