What channel is the NASCAR race on today? What time does the NASCAR race start? These are the questions that plague race fans every Sunday — or, in this case, Saturday — when each Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race will be on either NBC or NBCSN for the second half of the 2019 season with differing start times.
As for Saturday night's Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway, the Cup Series' only visit to the track all season, the channel that will broadcast the race is NBCSN. The start time for the race at Kentucky is 7:30 p.m. ET.
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The 7:30 p.m. ET start time is the third such start time this season (Richmond and Kansas were the others) since last week's night race at Daytona was rained out and bumped to Sunday. As for the TV channel, the NASCAR Cup Series this weekend is on NBCSN for the second time this year. As part of NBC's TV deal with NASCAR for the 2019 season, NBC is slated to show seven of the final 20 races of the season, with the other 13 scheduled to be shown on NBCSN.
The Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway, which will consist of three stages (80 laps, 80 laps, 107 laps), is the 20th race on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule (19th when not counting the All-Star Race). It marks the official start of the second half of the season — 18 races down, 18 to go.
Kentucky Speedway is a 1.5-mile oval that features 17-degree banking in Turns 1 and 2, 14-degree banking in Turns 3 and 4, and eight-degree backing on both stretches. The wide track is ripe for good racing with NASCAR's current aerodynamics package.
Below is all the info you need regarding how to watch Saturday night's NASCAR race at Kentucky.
What channel is NASCAR on today? Time, TV for Kentucky race
- Race: Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway
- Date: Saturday, July 13
- Start time: 7:30 p.m. ET
- TV channel: NBCSN
- Live stream: fuboTV
- Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Saturday night's Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway will be the second of 13 races this season to be shown on NBCSN. The network's broadcast crew consists of Rick Allen, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte in the booth, with Marty Snider, Dave Burns, Kelli Stavast and Parker Kligerman reporting from pit road.
In addition to the TV coverage on NBCSN, Saturday night's race at Kentucky is available via live stream through fuboTV. New fuboTV users can sign up with a seven-day free trial.
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Kentucky Speedway is still relatively new to the NASCAR Cup schedule. The series' first race at the track was in 2011 and was won by Kyle Busch; he is one of three drivers who have dominated the field at this particular oval. Busch, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. and Team Penske's Brad Keselowski have won seven of the eight Cup races at Kentucky. (Matt Kenseth won in 2013.)
Of course, all of those drivers are on the board with wins this season, too, and they make up three of the top five in the current Cup Series points standings.
Busch and Truex each have won at Kentucky twice, and because Kenseth won in a Toyota, that means Keselowski is the only non-Toyota driver ever to win a Cup race at this track. A Chevrolet driver has never won a Cup race at Kentucky, but don't be surprised if that changes in 2019.
MORE: Full 2019 NASCAR Cup Series schedule
This is the last regular-season race on a 1.5-mile oval for the Cup Series this season, and Hendrick Motorsports earned a confidence-building victory at a similar track a couple weeks ago, when Alex Bowman won at Chicagoland. Bowman also ran seventh at Charlotte and second at Kansas. Jimmie Johnson has finished eighth or better in his last four starts at 1.5-mile tracks. This team is finding speed at the right time.
Of course, the three aforementioned former Kentucky winners will still be the favorites Saturday night. They have the three best driver ratings at Kentucky among those in the field. They're followed closely by Stewart-Haas Racing's Kevin Harvick, who does not yet have a win this season but still sits third in points.
Harvick has led the most laps this year at 1.5-mile tracks (383), and he also has the second best average finishing position at 1.5-mile tracks this season. He is among the favorites at Kentucky, too.