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USA TODAY Sports’ Jeff Gluck looks ahead to the Pennsylvania 400 and the story lines that fans should keep an eye on leading up to this weekend.
USA TODAY Sports

LONG POND, Pa. — It is NASCAR race day at Pocono Raceway, and we’ve got all the information you need to get ready for today’s Sprint Cup Series race.

START TIME: Restauranteur Guy Fieri will instruct drivers to start their engines at 1:37 p.m. Eastern time today, followed by the green flag at 1:48 p.m.

RACE DISTANCE: The Pennsylvania 400 is 400 miles, 160 laps around the 2.5-mile race course.

NATIONAL ANTHEM/FLYOVER: Lauren Hart will perform the National Anthem (signed by Amanda Pascoe representing the Western Pa. School for the Deaf & the Scranton School for the Deaf & Hard of Hearing), and two  T-38’s from Langley Air Force Base will stage a fly-by.

TV/RADIO SCHEDULE: NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) will broadcast the race on TV and has a pre-race show beginning at 1 p.m. ET. The Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius/XM Radio will call the race on the radio.

WEATHER: Iffy. The National Weather Service is calling for a 60-percent chance of heavy rain and a high of 84 degrees.

LAST TIME: Kurt Busch picked up his first win of the season on June 6, nursing fuel and holding off Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the closing laps to win the race that was moved to Monday because of persistent rain. One year ago, Matt Kenseth also won in a fuel-mileage race, taking his second victory of 2015 when first Joey Logano then Kyle Busch ran out of gas.

STARTING LINEUP: Martin Truex Jr., who raced to victory at Pocono in June 2015, won the pole and is looking for his second win of the season.

Here’s the starting lineup for today’s NASCAR race at Pocono:

1. (78) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota

2. (19) Carl Edwards, Toyota

3. (27) Paul Menard, Chevrolet

4. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota

5. (31) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet

6. (14) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet

7. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford

8. (24) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet

9. (20) Matt Kenseth, Toyota

10. (22) Joey Logano, Ford

11. (42) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet

12. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet

13. (47) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet

14. (17) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Ford

15. (41) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet

16. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota

17. (4) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet

18. (21) Ryan Blaney, Ford

19. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet

20. (13) Casey Mears, Chevrolet

21. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet

22. (34) Chris Buescher, Ford

23. (5) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet

24. (88) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet

25. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford

26. (10) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet

27. (43) Aric Almirola, Ford

28. (15) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet

29. (95) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet

30. (7) Regan Smith, Chevrolet

31. (6) Trevor Bayne, Ford

32. (38) Landon Cassill, Ford

33. (23) David Ragan, Toyota

34. (83) Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota

35. (44) Brian Scott, Ford

36. (98) Cole Whitt, Chevrolet

37. (32) Jeb Burton, Ford

38. (30) Josh Wise, Chevrolet

39. (46) Michael Annett, Chevrolet

40. (55) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet

Follow James on Twitter @brantjames