The NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule heads to Daytona tonight for the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway, taking place the day after Independence Day. It’s the second biggest annual NASCAR race at Daytona, the summertime bookend to the winter Daytona 500, and one of the most high profile stock car races of the year despite being only a four hundred mile event. The Coke Zero 400 was previously the Pepsi 400, and the Firecracker 400 before that, though the accompanying Nationwide Series race now bears the Firecracker name instead. Tonight’s NASCAR race airs on cable TV, though not a channel typically known for live sporting events.
Heading into tonight’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona, the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings are topped by Jeff Gordon, who is still attempting to fend off a late season charge by Jimmie Johnson, who is twenty-four points behind in second place. Dale Earnhardt Jr, who lost his dad on this same Daytona track thirteen and a half years ago, is currently tied with Johnson in second place. Brad Keselowski, who had an impressive run in both NASCAR races last weekend, is fifty-eight points back in fourth place. Among other popular drivers, Kevin Harvick is in ninth place, Kyle Bush in tenth place, Tony Stewart in sixteenth place, and Danica Patrick in twenty-eight place heading into tonight’s race.
Tonight’s Coke Zero 400 Sprint Cup NASCAR race has a start time schedule of 7:00pm eastern time and airs on TV channel TNT. That’s channel number 245 on DirecTV, 138 on Dish, and 103 on Time Warner Cable. The race runs 160 miles around the 2.5 mile track for a total of 400 miles. Update: due to rain, the race has been rescheduled for Sunday at 11:00am.