NASCAR’s Cup Series will race at a short track for the second consecutive week as the Toyota Owners 400 begins the 28-race countdown to the conclusion of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s career. The 14-time most popular driver is a three-time winner at Richmond (2000, ’04 and ’06) with all of the victories coming in the race that normally falls in the late April to mid-May timeframe at the 0.75-mile oval.
Here are the particulars (all times are ET):
START: Major Eric Phillips, a Toyota owner, will give the command for drivers to start engines at 2:07 p.m. The green flag is scheduled for 2:14 p.m.
DISTANCE: The race is scheduled for 400 laps (300 miles) around the 0.750-mile track.
STAGES: Stage 1 ends on Lap 100. Stage 2 ends on Lap 200.
PRERACE SCHEDULE: The Cup garage opens at 8:30 a.m. The drivers meeting is at noon. Driver introductions are at 1:30 p.m.
NATIONAL ANTHEM: Sophia Nadder will perform the Anthem at 2:01 p.m.
TV/RADIO: Fox will broadcast the race at 2 p.m. with prerace beginning at 1:30 p.m. 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 87 degrees at race time with a zero percent chance of rain.
LAST YEAR: Carl Edwards bumped Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch aside on the last lap for the victory.
LAST TIME: Denny Hamlin led the final 86 laps, hanging on through a seven-lap overtime for a third victory at his hometown track.
STARTING LINEUP: Click here for the starting lineup.