NASCAR begins its 10-race Monster Energy Cup Series postseason with the Tales of the Turtles 400 Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway. NBCSN will televise the playoff-opener beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET, with the green flag waving at approximately 3:06 p.m. The start was moved up 10 minutes due to possible inclement weather.
NASCAR Chicago live stream: Time, TV channel, and how to watch Tales of the Turtles 400 online
All the particulars on how to watch Sunday’s opening NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Chicagoland Speedway.
Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images
Sixteen drivers are vying for the championship. Every three races the four ranked lowest in points and without a win will be eliminated, while a victory in one round guarantees advancement to the next round.
Based off winning the regular-season points championship combined with four overall race wins and a series-best 18-stage win, Martin Truex Jr. enters the playoffs as the No. 1 seed. He holds a 20-point advantage over second-seed Kyle Larson, and the bonus points Truex has accumulated make him the favorite to advance to the one-race, four-driver championship finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Truex is the defending Chicagoland winner and will start third on Sunday, behind pole-sitter Kyle Busch and second-place Denny Hamlin. Busch’s qualifying speed (187.963 mph) was nearly 2 mph faster than Hamlin’s best lap (186.168 mph), and three drivers gave Toyota a sweep of the top-three positions.
Time, TV channel, and streaming info
- Time: 2:30 p.m. ET (green flag: approx. 2:43 p.m. ET)
- Location: Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet, Ill.
- TV: NBCSN
- Radio: Motor Racing Network
- Streaming: NBCSports.com
Chicagoland news
The format on how NASCAR goes about crowning its champion may be unchanged. However, the points system and how points are distributed within the knockout format is radically different and will have a significant impact.
The advent of stage-racing provided drivers opportunities to collect points that are added to their total in each round. In essence, regular season success for the first time is now awarded in the playoffs, which can factor heavily in who transfers to the next round and who misses out.
If they wanted to, the 15 drivers competing against Jimmie Johnson when NASCAR’s playoffs begin this weekend would have reason to think the defending Monster Energy Cup Series champion won’t successfully retain his title.
After all, Johnson just completed a regular season where he recorded career lows in top-fives, top-10s, average finish, and laps led. He may have won three times, but those wins also accounted for his only top-five finishes in 26 races. Not exactly the kind of sustained high-level consistency indicating he and his Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 team are ready to embark on a title run.
Except none of Johnson’s competitors is willing to dismiss his chances of winning the championship this season; they’re too wise. They’ve seen how this story plays out before and it usually ends with Johnson holding the Cup trophy.
The animosity between the two former NASCAR champions bubbled over Friday after Kyle Busch took exception with something Brad Keselowski tweeted.
Chicagoland prediction
The speed that the Toyotas flashed during the second half of the regular season has carried into Chicagoland, where Busch, Hamlin and Truex not only qualified strongly but all were fast throughout the three practice sessions. Each is a former winner at the 1.5-mile track and all signs point toward each being a major player on Sunday.
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