The penultimate race of the NASCAR Cup Series regular season takes place Sunday at Michigan International Speedway.
Kyle Larson has an outside chance to clinch the regular season championship and its prize of 15 playoff points. He will start on the pole. Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott will join him on the front row.
Kevin Harvick has won the last three Michigan Cup races but is winless this season. He starts eighth on the grid. Should he not win Sunday, he could still clinch a playoff berth on points.
If that occurs, it would leave only the 16th and final playoff berth to be decided in next Saturday’s regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway.
Details for Sunday’s Michigan Cup race
(All times Eastern)
START: Health care workers from Henry Ford Health System (Metro Detroit) and Oaklawn Hospital (Marshall, Mich.) will give the command to start engines at 3:07 p.m. … The green flag is scheduled to wave at 3:16 p.m.
PRERACE: Cup garage opens at 8 a.m. … Drivers report for pre-race at 2:25 p.m. … Driver introductions are at 2:30 p.m. … Lisa Bascom will perform the Canadian national anthem at 2:56 p.m. … Fr. Geoff Rose (St. Francis de Sales High School, Toledo, Ohio) will give the invocation at 3 p.m. … Great Lakes Chorus will perform the national anthem at 3:01 p.m.
DISTANCE: The race is 200 laps (400 miles) on the 2-mile speedway.
STAGES: Stage 1 ends at Lap 60. Stage 2 ends at Lap 120.
TV/RADIO: NBCSN pre-race coverage begins at 2 p.m. with NASCAR America and continues at 2:30 p.m. with Countdown to Green … NBCSN race coverage begins at 3 p.m. … The NASCAR America Post-Race Show follows at 6 p.m. … Motor Racing Network’s radio coverage begins at 2 p.m. and also will stream at mrn.com; SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will carry the broadcast.
STREAMING: NBCSN
FORECAST: Weather Underground’s forecast calls for partly cloudy skies, a high of 85 degrees, and a 15% chance of rain around the start of the race.
LAST YEAR: Kevin Harvick completed a doubleheader sweep at Michigan. He became the first driver to win Cup races on consecutive days since Richard Petty in 1971.
STARTING LINEUP: Cup Series at Michigan
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Sunday Michigan Cup race: Start times, weather, TV info originally appeared on NBCSports.com