NASCAR Texas 2017 live stream: Start time, TV channel, starting grid, and how to watch online

After a chaotic start to the semifinal round of the Monster Energy Cup Series playoffs, NASCAR’s top division tackles Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday for the AAA Texas 500.

The 1.5-mile Texas oval is the second race of three in the semifinals following Martinsville Speedway, which a week ago featured late contact between title contenders Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin, tussling for a win that would’ve automatically qualified them for the championship final. Hamlin would spin Elliott out with two regulation laps remaining, then on the subsequent restart Kyle Busch nudged aside Hamlin to win the race.

On Sunday, playoff-eligible drivers Elliott, Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, and Ryan Blaney can join Busch and lock themselves into the four-driver finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway (Nov. 19) by winning the AAA Texas 500. The third slot will be filled by the winner of next week’s race at Phoenix Raceway, with the final spot claimed by the driver with the highest points total within the round.

NBCSN will televise the AAA Texas 500 with the network’s coverage beginning at 1:30 p.m. ET and the green flag scheduled to wave at 2:16 p.m. Rick Allen will handle play-by-play duties and be joined in the broadcast booth by analysts Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte.

Non-playoff driver Kurt Busch captured the pole in qualifying, posting the fastest lap (200.915 mph) in NASCAR history on a mile-and-a-half speedway. Hamlin qualified second, followed by Harvick, rookie Erik Jones, and Kyle Busch. Rookie Daniel Suarez, Truex, Blaney, Johnson, and Keselowski completed the top 10.

Winning — not retribution — should be Chase Elliott’s focus at Texas.

Smartly, Elliott’s focus is not on vengeance, but instead on winning. Although his chances of qualifying for the Final Four were diminished by what transpired at Martinsville, a path still exists for him to get to Homestead with a shot at the title.

Working in his favor is how theTexas preview: Playoff drama builds heading into second race of Cup Series semifinals schedule sets up. Specifically, the high-speed, mile-and-a-half Texas oval where he’s never finished worse than ninth in three career starts. And on similarly sized speedways, he has been particularly strong recently, having finished fourth or better in the previous four races on such tracks -- including two seconds and a fourth in the playoffs.

However, another top 10 on Sunday does Elliott little good. What he requires is a win.

Texas preview: Playoff drama builds heading into second race of Cup Series semifinals

Chase Elliott has not forgotten nor forgiven Denny Hamlin for costing him a key playoff win. There may or may not be some lingering feelings between Ryan Blaney and Kevin Harvick. And Jimmie Johnson doesn’t at all resemble the driver who’s won a record-tying seven Monster Energy Cup Series championships.

That is how the NASCAR world turns heading into the AAA Texas 500 Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway (2:15 p.m. ET, NBCSN), the second of three semifinal races that will determine the four drivers who will vie for the championship in two weeks at Homestead-Miami Speedway.