NASCAR at Phoenix: Start time, lineup, TV schedule

AVONDALE, Ariz. — It's NASCAR race day at Phoenix International Raceway, and we've got some essential information you need to get ready for today's race.

START TIME: At 3:08 p.m. Eastern time (1:08 local), actor Brian Baumgartner from The Office will give drivers the command to start their engines. After a few pace laps, NASCAR's second race of the season will go green at 3:15 p.m. ET.

RACE DISTANCE: The name of the race — the Subway Fresh Fit 500 — is a misnomer. The race is not 500 miles around the 1-mile Phoenix track (that would take way too long), but 500 kilometers. That means the actual distance is 312 miles, which takes 312 laps to complete.

TV/RADIO SCHEDULE: FOX will broadcast today's race and has a pre-race show beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET. The Motor Racing Network (MRN) will call the race on the radio.

WEATHER: Gorgeous. Today's weather is expected to be mostly sunny skies with temperatures in the low 80s. As you might expect in the desert, there's virtually no chance of rain.

LAST TIME: Kevin Harvick won November's Phoenix race as a brawl between Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer's teams overshadowed the day. And one year ago, Denny Hamlin made his dwindling fuel supply last as he won the spring Phoenix event.

STARTING LINEUP: Mark Martin broke a tie with Bill Elliott for seventh on the all-time pole positions list and became the second-oldest pole winner in Sprint Cup history when he took the top spot in qualifying for today's race. Hamlin qualified eighth but will have to start at the back due to an engine change in practice on Saturday.

Here's the starting lineup for Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Phoenix:

1. Mark Martin

2. Kasey Kahne

3. Jimmie Johnson

4. Kyle Busch

5. Jeff Gordon

6. Tony Stewart

7. Kevin Harvick

8. Denny Hamlin

9. Matt Kenseth

10. Ryan Newman

11. Brad Keselowski

12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

13. Clint Bowyer

14. Martin Truex Jr.

15. Carl Edwards

16. Paul Menard

17. Greg Biffle

18. Aric Almirola

19. Jamie McMurray

20. Jeff Burton

21. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

22. Marcos Ambrose

23. AJ Allmendinger

24. David Ragan

25. Kurt Busch

26. Dave Blaney

27. JJ Yeley

28. Scott Speed

29. Juan Pablo Montoya

30. Travis Kvapil

31. David Gilliland

32. Joey Logano

33. Bobby Labonte

34. David Reutimann

35. Mike Bliss

36. Josh Wise

37. David Stremme

38. Landon Cassill

39. Scott Riggs

40. Danica Patrick

41. Joe Nemechek

42. Ken Schrader

43. Casey Mears