The Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway is set for Sunday, April 23. The race will be live streamed on fuboTV (free trial).

NASCAR has withered a blistering six weeks of sinking television ratings, controversial penalties — some strangely adjusted during the appeals process, others not — and some sub-par racing that has drivers screaming for changes to the second-year Next Gen car. Those calls were increased after last Sunday’s race at Martinsville Speedway, where drivers got out of their cars grumbling that passing was nearly impossible.

Next up is Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway, which snaps a month of one road course race and three short track races — four venues scheduled to entice viewership with racing that differs from NASCAR’s typical intermediate-sized speedways. But the road course race at Circuit of the Americas in Texas was a chaotic crash-fest, short track stops at Richmond and Bristol had mixed reactions, and finally Martinsville, which didn’t produce the action the audience expects.

Now drivers are asking for more horsepower, tires that wear off faster and to eliminate shifting. According to Kevin Harvick, who makes his 800th career start, they also ask for the outlandish.

Talladega, a 2.66-mile high-speed track prone to create spectacular crashes and surprise winners, on Sunday can change the tone of the conversation permeating the sport.

When is the Geico 500 at Talladega?

Talladega is set for 2 p.m. (3 p.m. ET) on Sunday, April 23.

Streaming options

FuboTV

The game will be live streamed on fuboTV, which offers a free trial. The most basic of plans is the “fubo pro” package, which comprises 146-plus channels for $74.99 per month. Like all cord-cutting alternatives, there are plenty of options, especially for sports. It comes with more than 1,000 hours of cloud-based DVR, and up to 10 screens at once.

There is also the “fubo elite” package, which comprises 205-plus channels for $84.99 per month. It comes with fuboExtra (48 more channels) and News Plus (11 more channels). Plus, more than 1,000 hours of cloud-based DVR, and up to 10 screens at once.

The “fubo premiere” package is “fubo elite” with the addition of Showtime for $94.99 per month.

What TV channel is game on?

The Geico 500 at Talladega will be broadcast on Fox.

Preview

HAMLIN ON POLE: Denny Hamlin won the first superspeedway pole of his career in Saturday qualifying and will lead the field to green. Hamlin, a three-time Daytona 500 winner and two-time winner at Talladega, turned a lap at 180.642 mph to put his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in the top starting spot.

“I was well aware that I’ve never gotten a superspeedway pole,” Hamlin said of the statistic. He has won 36 poles in his career.

Hamlin bumped Aric Almirola in a Ford from Stewart-Haas Racing and Ty Gibbs, Hamlin’s teammate at JGR. Chase Briscoe of SHR qualified fourth and was followed by Ryan Blaney of Team Penske. JGR drivers Christopher Bell and and Martin Truex were sixth and seventh, while reigning Cup champion Joey Logano of Penske was eighth.

Kyle Larson, winner last week at Martinsville Speedway, qualified ninth for Hendrick Motorsports and was the only Chevrolet driver to crack the top 10. Chris Buescher in a Ford from Roush Fenway Racing rounded out the top 10.

Ross Chastain, winner of this race a year ago, qualified 23rd for Trackhouse Racing. Chase Elliott, the Talladega winner in October who is making his second consecutive start after missing six with a broken leg, qualified 29th.

Asked what would classify Sunday at Talladega as a good race, William Byron acknowledged the spectacular crashes common to the track would “probably help.”

“If I were watching on TV, I’d probably want it to be chaotic and unpredictable and have different people crashing,” Byron said.

Logano wasn’t worried.

“Talladega really never doesn’t deliver. It always delivers,” Logano said. “You’re not going to know who is going to win the race going down the backstretch (of the final lap). That’s why fans love it.”

ODDS AND ENDS: Logano is the FanDuel favorite to win Sunday, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. … Daytona 500 winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. received a new pit crew this week when Roush Fenway Racing recalled its personnel on lease to JTG Daugherty Racing back to service Chris Buescher. Statistics show that Stenhouse’s crew logged the sixth-fastest four-tire stop last week at Martinsville, while Buescher’s group was 33rd-fastest. “It’s a bummer because we won with most of those guys at Daytona and I think they wanted to stay with us,” Stenhouse said. “It’s the cards we’re dealt now. Should have known that they (RFK) would have played it that way, I guess.” … NASCAR this week issued another penalty, this time to Austin Dillon and Richard Childress Racing for an unapproved adjustment to the underwing assembly on his Chevrolet. He was docked 60 points, his crew chief suspended two races and dropped from 21st to 29th in the standings. RCR plans to appeal, but Dillon said he’ll race the same: “I think NASCAR has really kind of made the series into a must-win. Points aren’t really an option,” Dillon said. “I don’t think anything really changes truthfully on the points side.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.