What time does the 2018 NASCAR Southern 500 at Darlington start

It’s NASCAR race day at Darlington Raceway, and we’ve got some essential information you need to get ready for Sunday’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 Monster Energy Cup Series race:

START TIME: Bojangles’ senior vice president of marketing Randy Poindexter, 2019 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Jack Roush and other members of the NASCAR Hall of Fame will instruct drivers to start their engines at 6:07 p.m. ET followed by the green flag at at 6:15 p.m. ET.

RACE DISTANCE: The Bojangles’ Southern 500 is 367 laps around the 1.366-mile track for a total of 501 miles.

RACE STAGES: After a successful run last season, NASCAR will once again be dividing races into stages and handing out points. Here are the segments for tonight’s Cup race: Stage 1: 100 laps, Stage 2: 100 laps, Stage 3: 167 laps.

NATIONAL ANTHEM: Pop music group Hanson will sing the national anthem at 6:01 p.m. ET followed by a flyover by the Bandit Flight team based in North Carolina.

TV/RADIO SCHEDULE: The race will be broadcast on NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) starting at 6 p.m. ET, with a pre-show starting at 5:30 p.m. ET. Radio calls can be found on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius/XM NASCAR Radio.

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WEATHER: The forecast calls for partly cloudy skies with temperatues in the high 80s at the green flag, falling to the low 80s after sundown. There is only a very minimal chance of rain.

LAST TIME: Denny Hamlin led 124 laps and beat Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch by 2.6 seconds for his second career Cup Series victory at Darlington.

LINEUP: Hamlin, who is still seeking his first win of 2018, continued his recent strong run at Darlington by capturing the pole. Kyle Larson, who is also winless the season, qualified second. Larson has already qualified for the 2018 playoffs on points — the 12th driver who has locked in a berth — while Hamlin — ranked 13th — would be next in line.

Here is the starting lineup for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 (car number in parentheses):

1. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota

2. (42) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet

3. (78) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota

4. (88) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet

5. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota

6. (31) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet

7. (20) Erik Jones, Toyota

8. (22) Joey Logano, Ford

9. (41) Kurt Busch, Ford

10. (24) William Byron, Chevrolet

11. (9) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet

12. (10) Aric Almirola, Ford

13. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford

14. (21) Paul Menard, Ford

15. (6) Matt Kenseth, Ford

16. (19) Daniel Suarez, Toyota

17. (14) Clint Bowyer, Ford

18. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet

19. (37) Chris Buescher, Chevrolet

20. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet

21. (12) Ryan Blaney, Ford

22. (4) Kevin Harvick, Ford

23. (38) David Ragan, Ford

24. (47) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet

25. (17) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford

26. (34) Michael McDowell, Ford

27. (43) Bubba Wallace, Chevrolet

28. (13) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet

29. (95) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet

30. (32) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford

31. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet

32. (52) JJ Yeley, Chevrolet

33. (15) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet

34. (72) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet

35. (00) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet

36. (66) Timmy Hill, Toyota

37. (51) BJ McLeod, Chevrolet

38. (99) Derrike Cope, Chevrolet

39. (23) Joey Gase, Toyota

40. (96) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Toyota

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