NASCAR at Texas Motor Speedway: What you need to know about Sunday’s playoff race

Race: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series AAA Texas 500

Distance: 334 laps, or 501 miles.

Where: Texas Motor Speedway, a 1.5-mile, banked asphalt oval in Fort Worth, Texas.

When: 2 p.m. Sunday.

TV: NBCSN.

Radio: PRN.

Last year’s winner: Carl Edwards.

Also this week: O’Reilly Auto Parts 300, Xfinity Series, Texas Motor Speedway, 8:30 p.m., Saturday, NBCSN.

Worth mentioning: Jimmie Johnson has won this race five times, more than any other driver. A win this weekend would clinch his spot in the championship race at Homestead.

Who’s Hot/ Who’s Not

HOT

Kyle Busch: His win at Martinsville means he’ll be racing for a championship in Homestead for the third year in a row.

Brad Keselowski: He swept the first two stages at Martinsville and is positioning himself to sneak into Homestead.

NOT

Chase Elliott: Elliott had a chance to win his first Cup Series race, but a late wreck all but doomed his championship hopes.

Denny Hamlin: Hamlin didn’t earn any fans for wrecking Elliott last weekend, and it doesn’t look like he’ll make it to Homestead, either.

Brendan Marks

This story was originally published November 2, 2017 at 5:59 PM with the headline "NASCAR at Texas Motor Speedway: What you need to know about Sunday’s playoff race."