The first round of the Cup Series playoffs ends Saturday night under the lights at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Cup Series drivers will complete 500 laps at the Last Great Colosseum. Twelve will move on to the next round of the playoffs. Four others will see their championship dreams fade away until next season.
This race marks the 125th time the top series in NASCAR has competed at Bristol since the 1961 season. Denny Hamlin has won the last two races on the .533-mile paved oval.
Bristol Motor Speedway Cup Series race information
Weather: The WeatherUnderground forecast calls for partly cloudy skies throughout the day. A high of 78 degrees and a 4% chance of rain at the start of the Cup Series race.
Green flag time: The command to fire engines will be at 7:26 p.m. ET. The green flag will wave at 7:35 p.m. ET.
Starting lineup: Alex Bowman won the pole for Saturday night's race.
Pre-race: Driver introductions will take place at 6:50 p.m. ET. The festivities will feature Michael Buffer as a guest announcer. Drivers will walk out to pre-selected songs.
Pre-race coverage begins with "Countdown to Green" on USA Network at 7 p.m. ET. Race coverage continues on USA Network at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Stages: The race will consist of three stages. The first stage ends at Lap 125. The second stage ends at Lap 250. The scheduled end of the race is Lap 500.
Playoff picture: Logano has a secure spot in the Round of 12 after winning the playoff opener at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Chris Buescher, who is not in championship contention, won last weekend's race at Watkins Glen International.
Christopher Bell leads the rest of the playoff drivers with a 46-point cushion to the cutline. He is followed by Austin Cindric (+43), Alex Bowman (+41), Daniel Suarez (+36), Tyler Reddick (+30), Chase Elliott (+30), Ryan Blaney (+29), Kyle Larson (+26), William Byron (+25), Chase Briscoe (+6), and Ty Gibbs (+6).
The four drivers below the cutline are Denny Hamlin (-6), Brad Keselowski (-12), Martin Truex Jr. (-14), and Harrison Burton (-20).
Past winners: Several Cup Series drivers have previous wins at Bristol Motor Speedway. Larson (2021) and Buescher (2022) each have one win at Bristol. Logano has two wins (2014, 2015) while Keselowski has three wins (2011, 2012, 2020).
Hamlin has four wins at the short track (2012, 2019, 2023, 2024). Kyle Busch leads the active drivers with eight Cup wins at Bristol (2007, 2009 sweep, 2010, 2011, 2017, 2018, 2019).