Sunday afternoon, the NASCAR Cup Series continues at the longest track. Drivers will head to Talladega Superspeedway for the Geico 500 while Col. Doug Hurley serves as the grand marshal from the International Space Station. Here’s when the action takes place.
Coverage for the 188-lap, 500-mile event begins at 3 p.m. ET. FOX will broadcast the race once again while MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio provide the call for listeners. Mike Joy and Jeff Gordon will serve as the in-booth commentators. The broadcast is also available on the FOX Sports Go app but requires a subscription.
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Heading into Sunday’s race, Martin Truex Jr. will lead the drivers to green after securing the pole position in a random draw. Denny Hamlin, the winner of the Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, will help lead the way from the second position. Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson will line up just behind them in the third and fourth positions.
The Cup Series drivers will enter the event with some drastic changes to their stock cars. Following Ryan Newman’s crash at the end of the Daytona 500, NASCAR announced that horsepower would decrease from 550 to approximately 510 at all tracks longer than two miles. Talladega Superspeedway is 2.66 miles long and will serve as the guinea pig for this change.
In addition to the change in horsepower, Sunday’s race will be the second to allow fans. The Dixie Vodka 400 featured 1,000 military members as special guests, but the Geico 500 will allow 5,000 fans in the grandstands. This event will serve as a warm-up for July’s all-star race at Bristol Motor Speedway, which will allow up to 30,000 fans.
The fans in attendance will witness what could turn into some on-track feuds. Corey LaJoie and Hamlin are currently in a Twitter feud partially stemming from the driver of the No. 11 Toyota allegedly threatening to wreck his fellow driver. Both had to sit down with NASCAR before the Dixie Vodka 400 to “work out their issues.” Additionally, Joey Logano has stated that he won’t “give an inch” to Chase Elliott following their collision last month at Bristol.
With the horsepower changes, the Confederate flag ban and the on-track feuds, there are several storylines for the viewers and fans to follow. The outcome of Sunday’s race is unknown, but FOX will broadcast the action. Coverage starts at 3 p.m. ET as drivers head to one of NASCAR’s most iconic tracks.