How to follow Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway online, TV schedule, radio and more

Jeff Gordon’s streak of poles has been stopped at two, but the number of qualifying records broken this season continues. Kevin Harvick narrowly edged Gordon at Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday to pick up the 18th such record set this year.

Harvick, who has picked up five poles this season, told the Associated Press his recent success was due to “faster cars.” At 131.362 mph, his car was just a nose faster than Gordon’s. Despite missing out on a third straight pole, Gordon was extremely happy with his final position in second following an excellent run in the first round of qualifying.

“I thought I had a really good laps that first run out,” Gordon said to the AP, “I came on the radio and I said, `That is all I got.’ When you go do that and the car is well balanced and you get a good lap, you know that it’s up to somebody else to just take a little more risk and maybe get it, and Kevin did that.”

“Kevin” must surely be hoping to have a faster car than he did earlier this season at Bristol, when he struggled to a 27th place finish during the Food City 500. Even if his position at the front of the line hasn’t lead to a lot of victories for his predecessors: he’d be the first since Carl Edwards in 2008 to win from the pole position at the “World’s Fastest Half Mile”.

Which may explain why Edwards -- who qualified third -- was so adamant about the importance of track position at Bristol’s not-so-friendly confines. “I think the race is going to be frustrating -- not a lot of passing,” he said. “I think a lot of guys are going to be up around the top. Everybody is going to be up around the top.”

You can watch the race on ESPN beginning with pre-race coverage at 7:00 p.m ET on NASCAR Countdown featuring Nicole Briscoe, Brad Daugherty and Rusty Wallace. Live race coverage will begin at 7:30 p.m. with Allen Bestwick, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree in the booth. The green flag is tentatively scheduled for 7:43 p.m. In addition to the television coverage, viewers with a subscription to RaceView will be able to follow the race online. Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM Satellite NASCAR Channel 90 will provide radio coverage.

TV: ABC -- 7 p.m.

Green flag: Approximately 7:43 p.m.

Radio: Motor Racing Network -- Sirius-XM channel 90