NASCAR’s Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway: What you need to know

Race: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bank of America 500

Distance: 334 laps, or 501 miles.

Where: Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 1.5-mile, asphalt quad oval in Concord.

When: 2 p.m. Sunday.

TV: NBCSN.

Radio: PRN.

Last year’s winner: Jimmie Johnson.

Also this week: Drive for the Cure 300 Presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, Xfinity Series, Charlotte Motor Speedway, 3 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 7, NBCSN.

Worth mentioning: This is the first race of the second round of the playoffs. Four drivers – Kasey Kahne, Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman, and Austin Dillon – were eliminated last week at Dover.

Who’s Hot/ Who’s Not

HOT

Kyle Busch: He’s won back-to-back races and risen to second place in the standings.

Brad Keselowski: He won a stage point at Dover, and he’s up to fourth in the standings.

NOT

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: Stenhouse Jr. survived to the second round of the playoffs, but just barely. He’ll need to improve significantly if he hopes to make it another round.

Denny Hamlin: He finished 35th at Dover, and while he’s still seventh in the standings, he’ll need better finishes this round to keep from slipping down the leaderboard.

Brendan Marks

This story was originally published October 4, 2017 at 7:28 PM with the headline "NASCAR’s Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway: What you need to know."