Good morning and welcome to race day for the 2011 Daytona 500! Since NASCAR's biggest race is upon us, we've put together a brief viewer's guide that will help you navigate the day.
If you're wondering what time the race starts (in other words, you want to skip all the pre-race show fluff), here you go: The green flag is scheduled to fly at 1:19 p.m. Eastern time.
The race will be broadcast on FOX, which has an hour-long pre-race show beginning at noon. Speed's "NASCAR Race Day" runs from 9 a.m. to noon, and ESPN2's "NASCAR Now" airs from 9 to 10 a.m.
Some other quick facts about today's Daytona 500:
– Pre-race concert: Brad Paisley
– National anthem: Martina McBride
– Grand marshals: Josh Duhamel, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and director Michael Bay from the upcoming Transformers movie
– Defending champion: Jamie McMurray
– Distance: 200 laps (2.5 miles around the track)
Starting lineup for the 2011 Daytona 500:
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Jeff Gordon
- Kurt Busch
- Jeff Burton
- Regan Smith
- Clint Bowyer
- Kevin Harvick
- Michael Waltrip
- Matt Kenseth
- Kyle Busch
- Kasey Kahne
- Brian Keselowski
- Juan Pablo Montoya
- Jamie McMurray
- AJ Allmendinger
- Brad Keselowski
- Mark Martin
- Denny Hamlin
- Paul Menard
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Ryan Newman
- Carl Edwards
- Jimmie Johnson
- David Reutimann
- Tony Stewart
- Greg Biffle
- Brian Vickers
- Robert Richardson Jr.
- Bill Elliott
- Robby Gordon
- Bobby Labonte
- Trevor Bayne
- JJ Yeley
- David Ragan
- Marcos Ambrose
- Steve Wallace
- Andy Lally
- Joey Logano
- David Gilliland
- Travis Kvapil
- Joe Nemechek
- Dave Blaney
- Terry Labonte