It’s finally here, the start of the 2016 season. After a long winter, and a full Speedweeks schedule, the Sprint Cup Series opens its year at Daytona International Speedway.
Already, it has been a memorable Speedweeks with notable surnames winning -- Johnny Sauter, whose father Jim won an ARCA race at Daytona in 1978, won Friday night’s Camping World Truck race, and Chase Elliott, son of two-time Daytona 500 champ Bill Elliott, winning Saturday’s Xfinity race.
Will another add to that list this Speedweeks?
Here’s a look at the details for today’s race.
(All times are eastern)
START: Gerard Butler, start of the upcoming film “London Has Fallen,’' will give the command to start engines at 1:19 p.m. The green flag is scheduled to wave at 1:31 p.m.
DISTANCE: The 200-lap race on the 2.5-mile speedway will cover 500 miles.
PRERACE SCHEDULE: The Sprint Cup garage opens at 7 a.m. The driver/crew chief meeting is at 11 a.m. Driver introductions will take place at 12:40 p.m.
NATIONAL ANTHEM: The 82nd Airborne Division All American Chorus will perform the anthem at 1:12 p.m.
TV/RADIO: Fox will broadcast the race with coverage beginning at 1 p.m. Motor Racing Network will broadcast the race on radio and at MRN.com with coverage beginning at noon. SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will carry MRN’s broadcast.
FORECAST: wunderground.com predicts sunny skies with a temperature of 73 degrees and 0 percent chance of rain at race time.
LAST TIME: Joey Logano led the final 13 laps to score his first Daytona 500 victory. Kevin Harvick placed second and Dale Earnhardt Jr. was third, scoring his fourth consecutive top-three finish in this race.
BACK OF THE FIELD: Five cars will go to the rear because teams had to go to backup cars after crashes in Thursday’s qualifying races. Those drivers moving to the rear will be: Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson, Martin Truex Jr., A.J. Allmendinger and Brian Scott.
STARTING LINEUP: