The 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup season moves back to Daytona under the lights on Saturday night, with the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway in Florida.
NBC begins its 2016 NASCAR coverage with Saturday night’s race, beginning with NASCAR America at 6:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN. Race coverage moves over to NBC at 7 p.m. with the Countdown to Green pre-race show, followed by the race itself at 7:45 p.m.
Denny Hamlin got the season started off by winning the Daytona 500 in January, but he hasn’t won since. He did finish second last week in Sonoma, though, and will look to ride that momentum into the winner’s circle on Saturday night.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the 2015 Coke Zero 400, his second career win at the event. He enters Saturday night 12th in points this season, still looking for his first win. Earnhardt does have four second-place finishes.
Tony Stewart is coming off his first win of the season last week at Sonoma, and has won the Coke Zero 400 four times, the last in 2012. His win last week gives the feeling that Saturday night could be anyone’s race.
“Our story lines just increased a thousand percent by Tony Stewart winning the race,” NBC analyst Dale Jarrett told reporters on Wednesday. “Who is going to be that next one to step up? We’ve got a lot of young talent, and it’s going to be very interesting to watch their progression, and as we get closer to the cutoff for the Chase, who is going to still be trying to get that win, and who is close enough in points that they’re going to be driving in maybe a way that we haven’t seen in that situation and scenario.”
Greg Biffle, looking for not only his first win of 2016 but also his first top-10 finish, won the pole position on Friday.
Rick Allen will call the race for NBC alongside analysts Steve Burton and Jeff Letarte in the booth, plus reports on pit road from Marty Snider, Mike Massaro, Kelli Stavast and Dave Burns.
The race can be followed online both before and during the action using NBC Sports Live Extra. The race will be rebroadcast on Sunday at 3 p.m. and Monday at 3:30 p.m., both on NBCSN.
Coke Zero 400 info
Location: Daytona International Speedway
Pre-race show: 6:30 p.m. ET (NBCSN)
Race coverage: 7 p.m.
Green flag: 8:05 p.m. (approximately)
TV: NBC
Online: NBC Sports Live Extra
Radio: Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM channel 90
