Following Chase Briscoe's fuel-saving win at Pocono to pick up his first win with Joe Gibbs Racing, the NASCAR Cup Series is at EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway) on Saturday night for the running of the Quaker State 400.
This will be the 18th race of the season and the first repeat visit to a track this season after Christopher Bell's thrilling win in the February race. There have been seven races on the reconfigured EchoPark surface, with five different winners emerging in those seven.
Saturday night's race at EchoPark also represents the first race of the new In-Season Challenge, which pits drivers in a head-to-head, bracket-style competition. The drivers were seeded based on their last three finishes at Michigan, Mexico City and Pocono. The five-race tournament concludes at Indianapolis on July 27, when two drivers will battle for the $1 million prize.
So, let's dive right into the Quaker State 400 with the starting lineup as well as all the info about the TV broadcast, start time and more that fans need to know ahead of the green flag.
The Quaker State 400 starting lineup: Full NASCAR qualifying results
Here's a look at the NASCAR Cup Series qualifying results at EchoPark Speedway and the starting lineup as a result:
Quaker State 400 Starting Position | NASCAR Cup Series Driver |
|---|---|
1st | Joey Logano |
2nd | Josh Berry |
3rd | Ryan Blaney |
4th | Austin Cindric |
5th | Ryan Preece |
6th | Brad Keselowski |
7th | Cole Custer |
8th | Zane Smith |
9th | Alex Bowman |
10th | Chase Briscoe |
11th | Kyle Larson |
12th | Austin Dillon |
13th | Chris Buescher |
14th | Ty Dillon |
15th | Chase Elliott |
16th | Ty Gibbs |
17th | Todd Gilliland |
18th | William Byron |
19th | John Hunter Nemechek |
20th | Riley Herbst |
21st | AJ Allmendinger |
22nd | Justin Haley |
23rd | Tyler Reddick |
24th | Bubba Wallace |
25th | Corey LaJoie |
26th | Erik Jones |
27th | Noah Gragson |
28th | Christopher Bell |
29th | Kyle Busch |
30th | Carson Hocevar |
31st | Daniel Suarez |
32nd | Michael McDowell |
33rd | Denny Hamlin |
34th | Ross Chastain |
35th | Shane van Gisbergen |
36th | Connor Zilisch |
37th | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. |
38th | BJ McLeod |
39th | Cody Ware |
40th | David Starr |
Team Penske's Joey Logano is on the pole for the Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway on Saturday night. With a time of 178.960 mph (30.979 seconds), Logano actually posted the same time as Wood Brothers Racing's Josh Berry, but got the top spot due to an owner points tiebreaker.
It is the three-time champion's first pole of the season, his third at the 1.54-mile track and the 32nd of his career. Behind him in the top-five are teammates Ryan Blaney and Austin Cindric, with RFK Racing's Ryan Preece in fifth.
Fords locked down the top-eight positions on the grid in qualifying. Other notables outside the top 10 include Kyle Larson (11th), Chase Elliott (15th), points leader William Byron (18th), February Atlanta winner Christopher Bell (28th), Kyle Busch (29th) and Denny Hamlin (33th). Hamlin enters the In-Season Challenge as the No. 1 seed and is matched up with the No. 32 seed Ty Dillon, who rolls off 14th.
NASCAR race start time today: When does the Quaker State 400 green flag wave?
Saturday night's Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway will begin shortly after 7 p.m. ET. According to AccuWeather, the temperature is forecasted to drop into the 70s for the race with a stray chance of an evening thunderstorm.
Quaker State 400 stages explained
Quaker State 400 Stage | Lap Number When Points Awarded |
|---|---|
Stage 1 | 60 |
Stage 2 | 160 |
Final Stage | 260 |
For those who don't know, most of the points for the season-long NASCAR Cup Series standings will be awarded for the final stage. Stages 1 and 2, though, give teams two additional opportunities to score points, as well as extra breaks for pit stops (and for the TV product, commercial breaks).
Ten points go to the stage winners, and the remainder of the top 10 receive points in decreasing order with the 10th-place finisher getting one point. The stage victories and additional points can prove valuable throughout the season as drivers try to qualify for the 10-race playoffs that begin at Darlington Raceway on Aug. 31.
Quaker State 400 TV channel, broadcast and streaming info
The NASCAR Cup Series race at EchoPark Speedway on Saturday night will mark TNT Sports' return to the sport. Pre-race coverage of the Quaker State 400 will begin at 6:30 p.m. ET with coverage also available on PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio and streaming on Max.