2015 Daytona 500 start time, TV schedule, radio and more

Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds will guide television viewers through the 57th running of the Daytona 500 on Sunday when coverage begins at 1 p.m. (ET) on FOX, and they should be a familiar trio to regular viewers of the Great American Race. This is the 15th season that Fox Sports owns the rights to the event, and this particular trio called the very first Daytona 500 the network televised in 2001, and every one since. That makes them the longest running three-man broadcast crew in sports.

“The main difference is that Fox Sports is an analyst-driven production,” Joy said in a conference call earlier in the week. “You see that in football, baseball, and you see it in NASCAR. That in and of itself was a big culture shift from the way that CBS, ABC and NBC were putting sports on the air, where their anchors were at the top of the telecast and then they would fill in with analysts specific to a given sport. This was very different right from the start and I think that’s one of the big reasons it works so well.”

Joy does the play-by-play work, with three-time Cup champion Waltrip bringing knowledge as a former driver and 1992 Daytona-winning crew chief McReynolds adding his take as a former pit head. Matt Yocum, Jamie Little and Chris Neville will help with pit row coverage, and Chris Myers will again host the prerace show (which begins at noon) live from the Hollywood Hotel along with brothers Michael and Darrell Waltrip. (Michael is later slated to start in the race on the 17th row.)

The front row was set during group qualifying last Sunday. The system -- panned by drivers and fans alike after cars sat around on pit row for much of each five-minute period in, with no cars wanting to be the fox to be chased by faster hounds -- did result in a star-studded couple of front rows, anyway. Jeff Gordon won the pole, with Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson finishing just behind. Another Hendrick driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr. raced from last to first in one of Thursday’s Budweiser Duels after his car failed inspection on Sunday.

Eyes will be on two drivers in particular: defending champion Kevin Harvick, who’ll start on the sixth row, and four-time champion, three-time Daytona winner Gordon, beginning his final season in the sport.

“I say put that steering wheel in Kevin Harvick’s hands for a green-white-checkered shootout at just about any track,” Joy said. “Now with that being said, I would take Jeff Gordon’s savvy, his marketing experience, his skill, and his desire last year over just about anybody in the garage.”

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The green flag is set to wave at approximately 1:30 p.m. (ET).

Viewing: FOX will begin with prerace coverage at noon with race coverage at 1. You can also stream the race via the Fox Sports Go app.

Listening: Motor Racing Network (MRN) and SiriusXM Satellite NASCAR Channel 90

RaceView: NASCAR’s premium service features a 3D rendering of the race, real-time driver stats and in-car audio at a cost of $79.95 per season or $9.95 per month.

* Matt Crafton is driving in place of Kyle Busch, who was injured during the Xfinity race Saturday.
** Regan Smith is driving in place of Kurt Busch, who was suspended indefinitely by NASCAR.

Follow the links to SB Nation’s driver profiles.