BROADCAST INFORMATION: Saturday’s race at Kentucky Speedway will air live on NBCSN at 7:30 p.m. ET. Can’t make it to a television? The race can be heard live on PRN and SIRIUSXM NASCAR Radio. Below is the broadcast schedule for the remainder of the weekend.
FRIDAY, JULY 7
10:00 a.m. ET: NASCAR Cup Series practice, NBC Sports App
1 p.m. ET: NASCAR Cup Series final practice, NBCSN
6:15 p.m. ET: NASCAR Cup Series qualifying, NBCSN
SATURDAY, JULY 8
7:30 p.m. ET: NASCAR Cup Series race, NBCSN
THIS WEEKEND’S PAINT SCHEMES: Kasey Kahne will drive the No. 5 Mountain Dew Chevrolet SS, Chase Elliott will navigate the No. 24 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet SS, Jimmie Johnson will pilot the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS and Dale Earnhardt Jr. will drive the No. 88 Nationwide Children's Hospital Chevrolet SS.
HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS AT KENTUCKY: In six races at Kentucky, Hendrick Motorsports has posted two poles, five top-five finishes, 14 top-10s and 213 laps led. Kentucky Speedway, which began hosting NASCAR’s premier series in 2011, is the only active track where Hendrick Motorsports has not produced a win in the Cup Series.
KENTUCKY KAHNE: In Kahne’s six starts at Kentucky, he has a best finish of second, which came in only his second NASCAR Cup Series race at the Sparta, Kentucky, track. In last year’s Kentucky race, Kahne ended the evening with a 14th-place result, bringing his average finish at the mile-and-a-half track to 12.5.
ELLIOTT’S KENTUCKY STATS: Elliott is set to make his second Cup Series start this weekend in Kentucky Speedway. Last season, Elliott qualified eighth and early contact with a competitor forced the No. 24 team to the garage for repairs, resulting in a 31st-place finish. Elliott also has four starts in the NASCAR XFINITY Series at the mile-and-a-half track, averaging a starting position of 9.2 and finishing position of 8.2. He has led 20 laps and collected two top-five finishes and two top-10s.
JOHNSON SEEKS KENTUCKY WIN: Of the 83 career wins Johnson has accumulated over his career, none of them have come at Kentucky. Kentucky is one of the three tracks where Johnson has yet to score a win – the other two are Chicago and Watkins Glen.
EARNHARDT AT KENTUCKY: In six starts at Kentucky Speedway, Earnhardt has two top-five finishes – his best finish is fourth – and an average finish of 14.2. The Kannapolis, North Carolina, native qualified on the pole at the mile-and-a-half tri-oval for the June 2013 race. Last year, he finished 13th in his No. 88 Nationwide Children’s Hospital Chevy after having to slow to conserve fuel at the end of the 400-mile race. According to NASCAR’s loop data statistics among active drivers since 2005, Earnhardt ranks third in the green-flag passes category with 412, seventh for average speed late in a run (154.352 mph), and 10th in laps led with 10 laps