Sunday Gateway Cup race: Start time, TV info, weather

World Wide Technology Raceway – commonly known as Gateway – finally completes its renaissance Sunday as it hosts the NASCAR Cup Series for the first time.

The 1.25-mile oval outside St. Louis has steadily rebuilt itself as a motorsports destination since its revival in 2012, bringing in the NHRA, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, and the NTT IndyCar Series over the last decade.

Now comes the arrival of America’s most popular racing series to the region that spawned the Wallace brothers, Ken Schrader, and one of the sport’s cornerstone sponsors in beer giant Anheuser-Busch.

A sellout crowd – covering 57,000 grandstand seats, over 1,200 campsites, and dozens of suites – will be in the house Sunday.

For more key storylines to follow Sunday, check out our viewer’s guide.

Details for Sunday’s Cup race at World Wide Technology Raceway

(All Times Eastern)

START: Dave Steward, chairman/founder of World Wide Technology, will give the command to start engines at 3:32 p.m. … Green flag is scheduled to wave at 3:42 p.m.

PRERACE: Cup garage opens at 12:30 p.m. … Driver introductions are at 3 p.m. … Greg Holder, lead pastor of The Crossing (St. Louis), will give the invocation at 3:24 p.m. … Kennedy Holmes, with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, will perform the National Anthem at 3:25 p.m.

DISTANCE: The race is 240 laps (300 miles) on the 1.25-mile speedway.

STAGES: Stage 1 ends at Lap 45. Stage 2 ends at Lap 140.

TV/RADIO: FS1 will broadcast the race at 3:30 p.m. Pre-race coverage begins at 2 p.m. … Motor Racing Network’s radio coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. and will also stream at MRN.com. SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will carry the MRN broadcast.

STREAMING: Fox Sports

FORECAST: Weather Underground – Partly cloudy, high of 84 degrees, 6% chance of rain at start of the race

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