The start time for Sunday's NASCAR race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway marks the fifth of five consecutive night races for the Cup Series. The South Point 400 at Las Vegas also marks the fourth of 10 NASCAR playoff races that will crown a 2020 champion.
Amazingly, the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is back on track as originally constructed despite a two-month long hiatus in the spring amid the COVID-19 pandemic. That schedule continues tonight at 7 p.m. ET on the 1.5-mile oval in Las Vegas, Nev.
Sunday night's NASCAR race is the second Cup event at Las Vegas this season. The pre-pandemic schedule shakeup for 2020 made the spring Vegas race the second event of the season. Joey Logano won that race back on Feb. 23.
Below is all you need to know about the schedule for Sunday night's NASCAR race at Las Vegas and beyond.
MORE: Watch tonight's NASCAR race live with fuboTV (7-day free trial)
What time does the NASCAR race start today?
- Race: South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
- Date: Sunday, Sept. 27
- Start time: 7 p.m. ET
The green flag for Sunday night's NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas is scheduled to wave at 7:17 p.m. ET. For drivers, the later the start time the better considering the high in Las Vegas on Sunday will flirt with 100 degrees.
The 7 p.m. ET start time will make mid-race adjustments key for race teams, especially at a mile-and-a-half oval like Vegas. The track will be hot and slick at the beginning of the race and get cooler and faster as the night progresses.
Sunday night's race is scheduled for 267 laps (400.5 miles) and needs to reach the halfway point to be considered official.
What channel is NASCAR on today?
- TV channel: NBCSN
- Live stream: NBC Sports Go | fuboTV (7-day free trial)
NASCAR is back on schedule even after its two-month hiatus amid COVID-19 in the spring, so Sunday night's race at Las Vegas will still be shown on NBCSN as originally scheduled.
Of the 20 NASCAR Cup Series races NBC was scheduled to broadcast in 2020, 12 were slated to be shown on NBCSN with the other eight on NBC's flagship cable network. Five of the last six races of the season will be shown on NBC.
As for Sunday night's NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas on NBCSN, the network has a channel finder feature for viewers to find the TV channel options in their areas.
As is the case for all the Cup Series races on NBC and NBCSN this season, Rick Allen will call Sunday night's race at Las Vegas with the assistance of analysts Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte.
NASCAR live stream for Las Vegas race
Anybody who has a cable or satellite subscription can stream Sunday night's NASCAR race at Las Vegas live via NBCSports.com or the NBC Sports app. This should be the preferred route for a viewer who has such a subscription but isn't able to get in front of his or her TV.
For those who don't have a cable or satellite subscription, there are five OTT TV streaming options that carry NBC and NBCSN — Sling, Hulu, YouTubeTV, fuboTV and AT&T Now. Of the five, Hulu, YouTubeTV and fuboTV offer free trial options.
Below are links to each.
NASCAR schedule 2020
NASCAR remains committed to running 36 races this season, four of which were completed before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the sports world.
Despite so many changes to the regular-season schedule, NASCAR is keeping its 10 playoff races in the fall intact and at their original tracks. Below is that playoff schedule.
| Date | Track | TV channel | Start time |
| Sun., Sept. 6 | Darlington | NBCSN | 6 p.m. ET |
| Sat., Sept. 12 | Richmond | NBCSN | 7:30 p.m. ET |
| Sat., Sept. 19 | Bristol | NBCSN | 7:30 p.m. ET |
| Sun, Sept. 27 | Las Vegas | NBCSN | 7 p.m. ET |
| Sun., Oct. 4 | Talladega | NBC | 2 p.m. ET |
| Sun., Oct. 11 | Charlotte (ROVAL) | NBC | 2:30 p.m. ET |
| Sun., Oct. 18 | Kansas | NBC | 2:30 p.m. ET |
| Sun., Oct. 25 | Texas | NBCSN | 3 p.m. ET |
| Sun. Nov. 1 | Martinsville | NBC | 2 p.m. ET |
| Sun. Nov. 8 | Phoenix Raceway | NBC | 3 p.m. ET |
As for the regular season, a previously unscheduled Darlington race ran on May 17 instead of the the Chicagoland race that was originally scheduled for June 21. Another Darlington race ran on May 20 instead of the postponed Richmond race that was originally scheduled for April 19. The Charlotte race on May 27 ran instead of the Sonoma race that was originally scheduled for June 14.
The Pocono doubleheader remained as previously scheduled for the final weekend of June, with the Cup Series racing on back-to-back days. Those races were presented on Fox (and FS1) rather than on NBC. Fox's closed its coverage this season with the All-Star Race at Bristol on July 15.
Previously postponed races at Dover and Michigan became part of Saturday-Sunday doubleheaders at those respective tracks in August.
Because New York required people to quarantine for 14 days after traveling from one of the states impacted heavily by COVID-19 (including North Carolina), the Watkins Glen race on Aug. 16 was moved to the Daytona road course. According to The Athletic, NASCAR tried to get a quarantine waiver for its Watkins Glen races but was denied by Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office.
The Aug. 16 race was the NASCAR Cup Series' first on the road course at Daytona.