NASCAR Michigan Start Time, Starting Lineup, 2011 TV/Radio Listings And More

It’s NASCAR race day at Michigan International Speedway, and we’ve got the actual race start time, the starting lineup and some other facts about today’s action in the Irish Hills for you below.

Start time: The command to start engines will be given by former Heisman Trophy winner Desmond Howard – a University of Michigan alum – at 1:07 p.m. Eastern time. After a couple pace laps, honorary starter Alan Mulally (the president and CEO of Ford) will wave the green flag at 1:16 p.m. Eastern. So if you want to skip the pre-race show and just tune in for the race, flip on your TV set at 1:16.

Race name/distance: The “Pure Michigan 400” is 200 laps around the 2-mile Michigan track, which totals 400 miles. “Pure Michigan” is the state of Michigan’s tourism initiative.

TV and radio: Today marks the fourth race of ESPN’s portion of the NASCAR season. Every Cup race will be on either ESPN or ABC for the rest of the year. If you aren’t near a TV, the radio broadcast can be found on your local Motor Racing Network (MRN) affiliate. Click here to see a list of stations where you can listen.

National anthem: Gotta love the military bands. The 338th Army Band – from nearby Livonia and Columbus, Ohio – will perform both the “Star Spangled Banner” and “O Canada.” Viewers won’t see “O Canada” on TV, however.

Tickets: There are still plenty of tickets remaining for Michigan, so you should be safe if you want to take the chance by walking up to the ticket window on race day.

Weather: Nice and pleasant. According to the unofficial NASCAR weatherman, fans in Michigan should expect “cool, breezy and mostly dry” conditions with highs in the upper 70s. Ahh.

Last time: Denny Hamlin won the Michigan race just two months ago, which is his only victory of the season thus far. One year ago, it was Kevin Harvick who went to Victory Lane at Michigan and clinched a spot in the Chase while doing so.

Starting lineup for today’s NASCAR race at Michigan: