What channel is the NASCAR race on today? What time does the NASCAR race start? These are the questions that plague race fans every Sunday, when each NASCAR Cup Series race will be on either FOX or FS1 for the first half of the 2020 season with differing start times.
As for Sunday's FanShield 500 at Phoenix Raceway, the TV channel that will broadcast the race is Fox. The start time for the race at Phoenix is 3:30 p.m. ET, and the start time for the pre-race show on Fox is 2:30 p.m. ET. The green flag time is scheduled for 3:44 p.m. ET.
MORE: Full NASCAR starting lineup at Phoenix
The 3:30 p.m. ET start time for Sunday's Phoenix race is the last of three consecutive such start times as NASCAR's Cup Series completes its early-season West Coast swing. Last week's race at Auto Club Speedway also started at 3:30 p.m. ET, as did the Feb. 23 race at Las Vegas. As for the TV channel, the NASCAR Cup Series returns to Fox for the fourth consecutive week. As part of Fox's TV deal with NASCAR for the 2019 season, Fox is slated to show nine Cup races this year, and FS1 is scheduled to show eight, including the All-Star Race in May.
Sunday's race at Phoenix, which will consist of three stages (75 laps, 115 laps, 122 laps), is the fourth race on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule. Phoenix Raceway is a one-mile oval that features nine-degree banking in Turns 1 and 2, 11-degree banking in Turns 3 and 4, three-degree banking on the frontstretch and nine-degree banking on the backstretch.
"Phoenix is definitely interesting; it is challenging," Chase Elliott told Sporting News on Friday. "The two ends of the track are very different from one another. It’s a real challenge to get them both driving perfect, or as close as you can. So that’s always a challenge, just trying to get the corners as linked up as you can."
Below is all the info you need regarding how to watch Sunday's FanShield 500 at Phoenix.
MORE: How Fox's two-man Cup broadcast works
What channel is NASCAR on today?
- Race: FanShield 500 at Phoenix Raceway
- Date: Sunday, March 8
- TV channel: Fox
- Live stream: Fox Sports Go
- Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
The FanShield 500 will be the fourth race of the season to be shown on Fox, which also will be the TV channel for the next two races on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule. NBC and NBCSN will take over as the NASCAR Cup Series broadcast networks for the second half of the season, starting at Chicagoland Speedway on June 21.
Below are the top 40 TV markets in the Unites States and the local Fox affiliate for each.
| Market | Fox affiliate (digital/virtual channel) |
| New York | WNYW (5) |
| Los Angeles | KTTV (11) |
| Chicago | WFLD (32) |
| Philadelphia | WTXF-TV (29) |
| Dallas-Ft. Worth | KDFW (4) |
| San Francisco/Bay area | KTVU (2) |
| Washington D.C. | WTTG (5) |
| Houston | KRIV (26) |
| Boston | WFXT (25) |
| Atlanta | WAGA-TV (5) |
| Phoenix | KSAZ-TV 10 |
| Tampa/St. Petersburg | WTVT (13) |
| Seattle | KCPQ (13) |
| Detroit | WJBK (2) |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul | KMSP-TV (9) |
| Miami | WSVN (7) |
| Denver | KDVR (31) |
| Orlando | WOFL (35) |
| Cleveland | WJW-TV (8) |
| Sacramento | (KTXL 40) |
| Charlotte | WJZY (46) |
| Portland | KPTV (12) |
| St. Louis | KTVI (2) |
| Pittsburgh | WPGH-TV (53) |
| Baltimore | WBFF (45) |
| Raleigh-Durham | WRAZ (50) |
| Nashville | WZTV (17) |
| San Diego | KSWB-TV (69) |
| Salt Lake City | KSTU (13) |
| San Antonio | KABB (29) |
| Kansas City | WDAF-TV (4) |
| Columbus | WTTE (28) |
| Milwaukee | WITI (6) |
| Cincinnati | WXIX-TV (19) |
| Las Vegas | KVVU-TV (5) |
| Jacksonville | WFOX-TV (30) |
| Oklahoma City | KOKH-TV (25) |
| New Orleans | WVUE-DT (8) |
| Memphis | WHBQ-TV (13) |
| Buffalo | WUTV (29) |
Anybody who has a cable or satellite subscription can stream Sunday's Phoenix race live via Fox Sports Go. This should be the preferred route for a viewer who has such a subscription but isn't able to get in front of his or her TV.
For those who don't have a cable or satellite subscription, there are five OTT TV streaming options that carry Fox — Sling, Hulu, YouTubeTV, fuboTV and AT&T Now. Of the five, Hulu, YouTubeTV and fuboTV offer free trial options.
Below are links to each.
What time is NASCAR on today?
- Pre-race: 2:30 p.m. ET
- Start time: 3:30 p.m. ET
- Green flag time: 3:44 p.m. ET
As the final race of the Cup Series' early-season West Coast swing, Phoenix marks the last 3:30 p.m. ET start for a race until June (Pocono).
The next seven races on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule will start at 2 p.m. ET before the first night race (Martinsville, 8 p.m. ET on May 9) of the season.
MORE: Full 2020 NASCAR Cup Series schedule
Phoenix, of course, also will play host to the NASCAR Cup Series championship race in November. Elliott told SN that fact doesn't impact how his team approached this weekend, but other teams might put a little extra stock into how they run Sunday.
"A lot of guys will be putting a lot of effort in (Phoenix) to see where they stand," Martin Truex Jr. told Fox Sports' Bob Pockrass. “It gives you a sample and then you have six months to work it out. I don’t necessarily like it, but it is what it is.”