Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Cup cars are not on track at Chicagoland Speedway until Saturday, but the Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series will be Friday. Xfinity teams will have two practices. Truck teams will qualify and race. Here is today’s track schedule: (ALL TIMES EASTERN) 1 p.m. — Truck garage opens 2 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. — Xfinity garage open 4:35 – 5:20 p.m. — Xfinity practice (NBCSN) 5:40 p.m. — Truck qualifying; single vehicle/two rounds (Fox Sports 2) 7:15 p.m. — Truck driver/crew chief meeting 7:35 – 8:20 p.m. — Final Xfinity practice (NBCSN) 9 p.m. — Overton’s 225 Truck race; 150 laps/225 miles (Fox Sports 1, MRN & SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)<doc-sep>It's race day at Chicagoland Speedway, and we’ve got all the information you need to get ready for today’s Overton's 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race: START TIME: Overton’s Director of Operations Pat Baker and Overton’s Vice President of Merchandise & Business Development Nicolas Goureau will instruct drivers to start their engines at 2:23 p.m. ET (1:23 p.m. local) followed by the green flag at 2:32 p.m. ET (1:32 p.m. local). Times were moved up 14 minutes from the original schedule because of rain in the forecast. RACE DISTANCE: The Overton's 400 is 267 laps around the 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway. That's 400 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 today's race: Stage 1: 80 laps, Stage 2: 80 laps, Stage 3: 107 laps. NATIONAL ANTHEM: Jim Cornelison, voice of the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks, will perform the national anthem at 2:18 p.m. ET (1:18 p.m. local) followed by a flyover by a C-130H Hercules from the 910th Airlift Wing of the Youngstown, Ohio Air Reserve Station. TV/RADIO SCHEDULE: The race will be broadcast on NBC Sports Network (NBCSN), with a pre-show starting at 2 p.m. ET (1 p.m. local). Radio calls can be found on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius/XM NASCAR Radio. LIVE STREAMING: NBCSports.com will live-stream the race for those who sign in with their cable/satellite provider's credentials. PREVIEW:Hot drivers, hotter weather roll into Chicagoland SURPRISING SEASON:Victory lane still eludes many top Cup drivers SUMMER STRETCH:Provides multiple paths on road to playoffs WEATHER: Be prepared for hot and sticky weather and possibly rain. The race should begin under partly cloudy skies with highs in the low 90s, but there is a strong chance rain or thunderstorms could reach the area before the race ends. LAST TIME: Martin Truex Jr. dominated last year's race — which was then the playoff opener in September — winning by more than seven seconds over runner-up Chase Elliott. Truex also won the Chicagoland playoff opener in 2016. LINEUP: Paul Menard scored just his second Cup Series pole and first since the summer of 2008 at Daytona International Speedway as he tries to get Wood Brothers Racing its 100th win. Former Wood Brothers driver Ryan Blaney qualified second and will also start on the front row. Here's the starting lineup for today's Overton's 400 (car number in parentheses): Follow Horrow on Twitter @EllenJHorrow FULL LINEUP: Overton's 400 1. (21) Paul Menard, Ford, 180.012 mph. 2. (12) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 179.880. 3. (9) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 179.748. 4. (41) Kurt Busch, Ford, 179.545. 5. (14) Clint Bowyer, Ford, 179.491. 6. (10) Aric Almirola, Ford, 179.259. 7. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 179.093. 8. (24) William Byron, Chevrolet, 179.057. 9. (20) Erik Jones, Toyota, 178.826. 10. (19) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 176.315. 11. (4) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 178.761. 12. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 178.731. 13. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 178.489. 14. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 178.047. 15. (88) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 177.754. 16. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 177.684. 17. (31) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 177.288. 18. (42) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 177.223. 19. (47) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 177.061. 20. (17) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 176.373. 21. (6) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 176.557. 22. (43) Bubba Wallace , Chevrolet, 176.378. 23. (38) David Ragan, Ford, 175.890. 24. (95) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 175.827. 25. (13) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 175.467. 26. (34) Michael McDowell, Ford, 174.306. 27. (15) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 174.087. 28. (32) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 174.020. 29. (23) Gray Gaulding, Toyota, 173.902. 30. (99) Kyle Weatherman, Chevrolet, 170.740. 31. (00) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 170.412. 32. (72) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 169.194. 33. (51) BJ McLeod, Chevrolet, 169.099. 34. (7) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 168.471. 35. (66) Timmy Hill, Toyota, 167.567. 36. (78) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 0.000. 37. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 0.000. 38. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 0.000. 39. (37) Chris Buescher, Chevrolet, 0.000.<doc-sep>Mike Hembree USA TODAY CHICAGO — One of the biggest changes in this year’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule reaches reality this weekend. Chicagoland Speedway, which hosted the Cup playoff opener for seven consecutive years, opens its gates much earlier this year, hosting Sunday’s Overton’s 400 (2 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network) with the playoffs still more than two months away. The playoff opener has moved to Las Vegas Motor Speedway. With warm temperatures expected for most of the weekend at the track in the far suburbs of Chicago, and without the pressures associated with a playoff race, Sunday’s event could be quite different from most recent Chicagoland races. “That race track in particular, the asphalt is really worn out and you add some high temperatures to go with it, and it should be a really fun race with the cars sliding around,” Kevin Harvick said. Kyle Larson agreed. “I think the hotter weather will always make any race better because we will be sliding around and stuff like that,” he said. “The track should hopefully be hotter and slicker, but I always feel like that first playoff race the intensity is not that high just because people are just trying not to make mistakes. I’m not saying that there is not as much on the line, but I think the racing will be more intense even than it was.” DALE JR.:Ready to kick NASCAR on NBC coverage into new gear NASCAR ON NBC:ZZ Ward helps kick off run with a Tom Petty pitch LAST RACE:Truex surges into title picture with pit-stop fake-out at Sonoma NASCAR HERO:K&N Series driver saves family from burning car AJ Allmendinger called the track especially challenging “because we only race at it one time during the year. With Chicago’s rough winters, the racetrack is always getting rougher through the offseason — more than some of the other tracks we go to. “Over the last couple of years, the seams and the bumps in the racetrack are getting more noticeable, and the pavement is getting older, which changes how hard it uses the tires.” Friday’s predicted high temperature in the area is 93. Saturday is expected to be hotter, with a high of 96. The race-day forecast is mixed, with a predicted high of 87 and a good chance of thunderstorms. The race will match the season’s top stars — Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch — against Everybody Else. Harvick owns five wins, Busch four and Truex three. Clint Bowyer, with two victories, is the only other driver with more than one win this year. More surprisingly, only six drivers have won all season, thus earning spots in the playoffs. Among those without victories are Jimmie Johnson and Brad Keselowski. Half of the drivers in the top 10 in points are winless. In addition to Keselowski, they are Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson and Aric Almirola. Johnson, whose victory came more than a year ago at Dover International Speedway on June 4, is No. 1 in laps led at Chicagoland with 695 in 16 races, but the track is one of three Cup venues where he has not reached victory lane (also Kentucky Speedway and Watkins Glen International). He has been a runnerup at the Joliet, Ill., track three times. Oddly, the only victory Johnson scored in the Xfinity Series came at Chicagoland in 2001. Truex, whose team logged its third victory with a stellar pit strategy last Sunday at Sonoma Raceway in California, carries the favorite’s flag into Sunday’s race. He has won the past two events at Chicagoland. “A little sad it’s not kicking off the playoffs anymore just because of our record there, but at the same time, it’s a great racetrack and I’m excited to go there and see what we can do,” Truex said. “We had great runs in Pocono (a win) and Sonoma. But overall we have a much better handle on our race car and feel that we can contend on any type of track.” Truex, Harvick and Keselowski lead all current drivers with two wins at the 1.5-mile track.<doc-sep>
Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) NASCAR makes its annual trip to Chicagoland Speedway this weekend with all three major series in attendance. For the last seven years, the Cup series has visited Chicagoland in September. The first 10 years Chicagoland hosted a Cup race, it was run in early- to mid-July. Last year’s Xfinity and Truck series races were hosted during this same weekend. Here is the track schedule: (ALL TIMES EASTERN) THURSDAY, JUNE 28 3 – 10 p.m. — Truck garage open 5:30 – 6:20 p.m. — Truck practice (No TV) 7:35 – 8:25 p.m. — Truck final practice (No TV) FRIDAY, JUNE 29 1 p.m. — Truck garage opens 2 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. — Xfinity garage open 4:35 – 5:20 p.m. — Xfinity practice (NBCSN) 5:40 p.m. — Truck qualifying; single vehicle/two rounds (Fox Sports 2) 7:15 p.m. — Truck driver/crew chief meeting 7:35 – 8:20 p.m. — Final Xfinity practice (NBCSN) 9 p.m. — Overton’s 225 Truck race; 150 laps/225 miles (Fox Sports 1, MRN & SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) SATURDAY, JUNE 30 8:00 a.m. — Xfinity garage opens 8:30 a.m. – 10:30 p.m. — Cup garage open 11:30 a.m. – 12:20 p.m. — Cup practice (NBCSN, Motor Racing Network) 12:40 p.m. — Xfinity qualifying; multi-vehicle/three rounds (NBCSN) 1:45 p.m. — Xfinity driver/crew chief meeting 2 p.m. – 2:50 p.m. — Final Cup practice (NBCSN) 3 p.m. — Xfinity driver introductions 3:30 p.m. — Overton’s 300 Xfinity race; 200 laps/300 miles (NBCSN, MRN & SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) 7:05 p.m. — Cup qualifying; multi-vehicle/three rounds, impound (NBCSN, MRN) SUNDAY, JULY 1 10:30 a.m. — Cup garage opens 12:30 p.m. — Driver/crew chief meeting 1:50 p.m. — Driver introductions 2:30 p.m. — Overton’s 400 Cup race; 267 laps/400.5 miles (NBCSN, MRN & SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)