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Auto racing’s greatest single day: A preview

  • F1 Monaco Grand Prix begins at least 15 hour of auto racing 
  • The Indianapolis 500 honors the fallen, hosts 375,000 fans
  • NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600 is the sport's longest race

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(NewsNation) — Set the alarm, brew the coffee, fire up the barbecue and prepare yourself for one of auto racing’s best days — and certainly the longest.

The Formula 1 Grand Prix of Monaco, the Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 will fill most of the day and part of the night for millions of fans Sunday.

Here’s a quick look at the three races:

Monaco

One of the world’s smallest countries hosts one of the most famous races in the world, as Formula 1’s open wheel cars zip around the narrow, winding streets of the Principality of Monaco. No matter how little you may care about auto racing, the spectacle of the race and the super-rich race fans is not to be missed.

The race has been run nearly every year since the founding of Formula 1 in 1950. Drivers will run 78 laps on the two-mile course for a total of 162 miles.

Max Verstappen has won two of the last three Monaco races, including last year. He also leads the race for the F1 driver’s championship. On Saturday Charles LeClerc won the pole position.

The green flag drops at 7:30am ET. ABC has the coverage.

Indy

A total of 33 cars will line up for the 108th edition of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” as the Indianapolis 500 has billed itself for decades.

Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske has the pole position. Last year’s winner, Josef Newgarden, will start third.

Weather may be a factor Sunday, as forecasters are watching two possible storm systems moving through the Midwest.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has sold about 345,000 tickets, but that’s about 5,000 shy of sellout. And that means the race won’t be shown on TV in central Indiana. The 2016 sellout was the only time since 1950 the race wasn’t blacked out locally.

The race is set to begin at 12:45 p.m. ET on NBC. But if the weather is bad, the race could be delayed until Monday for the first time since 1977.

Charlotte

NASCAR runs a handful of 500-mile races, most notably the Daytona 500. But the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway is the sport’s longest race. And those extra 100 miles have defeated many a driver’s stamina and many a car’s engine.

And no driver will have a better excuse to be tired than Kyle Larson. He’s doing what hasn’t been done in a decade: driving the Indy 500 and then the Coca-Cola 600, for a total of 1,100 miles behind the wheels.

A handful of drivers have done it, the last one being Kurt Busch in 2014. In 2001, Tony Stewart had good days in both venues, finishing sixth at Indy and third in Charlotte.

Ryan Blaney led 163 of the race’s 400 laps on his way to victory last year. Ty Gibbs, grandson of team owner and NFL Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs, won the pole in Saturday qualifying.

Like Indianapolis, the Charlotte race honors America’s military men and women.

The green flag flies at 6:22 p.m. ET for the race, televised on Fox. The weather is promising, with partly cloudy skies and a high of 87 forecast for Charlotte on Sunday.

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