Sunday’s 500-lap marathon at Martinsville Speedway will set the four-driver field for the Nov. 6 race for the NASCAR Cup Series championship at Phoenix Raceway.
Joey Logano enters Sunday’s race (2 p.m. ET, NBC) as the only driver locked into the Championship Four for Phoenix. He earned the spot by winning at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
If any of the remaining seven playoff drivers wins Sunday’s race, they will get an automatic berth in the final four. The other positions will be filled via points. If no playoff driver wins Sunday, the other three spots will be determined by points.
Details for Sunday’s Cup race at Martinsville Speedway
(All times Eastern)
START: An Xfinity Rewards customer will give the command at 1:59 p.m. … Green flag is scheduled to wave at 2:08 p.m.
PRERACE: Cup garage opens at 11 a.m. … Driver introductions are at 1:35 p.m. … Motor Racing Outreach chaplain Nick Terry will give the invocation at 1:51 p.m. … The Regimental Band of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets will perform the national anthem at 1:52 p.m.
DISTANCE: The race is 500 laps (263 miles) on the .526-mile speedway.
STAGES: Stage 1 ends at Lap 130. Stage 2 ends at Lap 260.
TV/RADIO: NBC will broadcast the race at 2 p.m. … Countdown to Green airs at 1:30 p.m. … Motor Racing Network coverage begins at 1 p.m. and also will stream at mrn.com. … SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will carry the MRN broadcast.
FORECAST: Weather Underground — Cloudy with a high of 60. 8% chance of rain.
LAST TIME: Alex Bowman won this race last year. He led nine laps. Kyle Busch was second and Brad Keselowski third.
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Sunday Martinsville Cup race: Start time, TV info, weather originally appeared on NBCSports.com