USA TODAY Sports’ Jeff Gluck breaks down the race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
BRISTOL, Tenn. — It’s NASCAR race day at Bristol Motor Speedway, and we’ve got some essential information you need to get ready for Sunday’s Food City 500.
START TIME: Ella and Leo Gordon, children of driver Jeff Gordon, are scheduled to instruct drivers to start their engines at 1:07 p.m. ET today. If you want to skip the pre-race show and just tune in for the race, turn on your TV at 1:13 p.m. for the green flag.
RACE DISTANCE: The Food City 500 in Support of Steve Byrnes and Stand Up To Cancer is 500 laps around the .533-mile Bristol Motor Speedway for a total of 266.5 miles.
NATIONAL ANTHEM: Stephanie McKeen will sing the national anthem.
TV/RADIO SCHEDULE: Fox will broadcast today’s race. The pre-race show will be on Fox Sports 1 at noon ET. The Performance Racing Network (PRN) will call the race on the radio.
WEATHER: The forecast is not pleasant. The National Weather Service predicts a 90 percent chance of rain in the speedway area Sunday, with rain possibly beginning in late morning. Showers and thunderstorms are possible. The predicted high is 67. Monday’s forecast: 60 percent chance of rain. The track has lights. NASCAR has Air Titan 2.0.
LAST TIME: Carl Edwards, then driving for Roush Fenway Racing, won last year’s Food City 500. The race was extended when an official accidentally triggered the track’s caution lights, setting up a green-white-checker finish. Edwards didn’t have to worry about that restart, however, as a deluge hit the track on lap 503, ending the race under caution.
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