DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will begin the 2015 season Sunday with the 57th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. Here are the particulars:
START: Actor Vince Vaughn (promoting his upcoming “Unfinished Business”) will give the command for drivers to start their engines at approximately 1:19 p.m. ET. The green flag is scheduled for 1:31 p.m.
DISTANCE: The race is scheduled for 200 laps (500 miles) around the 2.5-mile oval.
NATIONAL ANTHEM: It will be performed by 19/Interscope recording artist Phillip Phillips at 1:13 p.m.
PRERACE CONCERT: It will be performed by Kid Rock, who also played the 2011 NASCAR Awards Ceremony in Las Vegas.
TV/RADIO: Fox will broadcast the race, starting with a pre-race show at noon. Motor Racing Network will broadcast the race on radio and MRN.com.
FORECAST: The wunderground.com site predicts 75 degrees at race time with a 1% chance of rain.
LAST TIME: After a six-hour rain delay, Dale Earnhardt Jr. captured his second Daytona 500, a decade after his first win in the Great American Race.
MISSING DRIVERS: For the first time since the penultimate race of the 2001 season at Atlanta Motor Speedway, a Sprint Cup race will begin without Kurt or Kyle Busch. Kurt is on an indefinite suspension from NASCAR because a Delaware family court issued a protective order against him. Kyle is sidelined indefinitely because of a compound fracture in his right leg that he suffered in a crash during Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at Daytona.
STARTING LINEUP:
Row 1: Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson
Row 2: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Crafton**
Row 3: Joey Logano, Carl Edwards
Row 4: Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle
Row 5: Clint Bowyer, Martin Truex Jr.
Row 6: Kevin Harvick, Ryan Blaney
Row 7: Kasey Kahne, Reed Sorenson
Row 8: Jamie McMurray, Mike Wallace
Row 9: Landon Cassill, Justin Allgaier
Row 10: Cole Whitt, Danica Patrick*
Row 11: Paul Menard, Ryan Newman*
Row 12: Michael McDowell, Regan Smith**
Row 13: J.J. Yeley, David Gilliland
Row 14: Michael Annett, David Ragan*
Row 15: Kyle Larson*, Austin Dillon*
Row 16: Ty Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Row 17: Aric Almirola, Michael Waltrip
Row 18: Matt Kenseth, Johnny Sauter*
Row 19: Trevor Bayne*, Sam Hornish Jr.*
Row 20: Brad Keselowski, A.J. Allmendinger*
Row 21: Casey Mears, Denny Hamlin
Row 22: Bobby Labonte*
*-- Will drop to rear in backup car
**--Will drop to rear because of driver change