Brad Keselowski lands pole position for Sunday’s Cup Series race at Kansas
Staff Report
Chris Graythen | Getty Images
Brad Keselowski, last weekend's winner at Talladega Superspeedway, has claimed the Busch Pole Award for Sunday's Buschy McBusch Race 400 (3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Kansas Speedway.
Keselowski, who notched his first NASCAR Cup Series win of the season Sunday, will start his No. 2 Team Penske Ford from the pole position.
RELATED: Kansas weekend schedule | 2021 Cup Series standings
John Hunter Nemechek is on the pole for Saturday's Wise Power 200 (7:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. It marks the third time in the last four races that Nemechek will start first in the No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota.
As NASCAR adapted to COVID-19 protocols last season, practice and qualifying were eliminated at a majority of national-series events to limit at-track time, exposure and to cut race weekend costs. To determine starting lineups, competition officials used grouped draws, added inversions for weekend doubleheaders, and eventually adopted a performance-metrics formula. That metrics format remains in place this season, drawing on performance from both individual races and season-long results.
NASCAR's metrics formula for 2021 weighs:
25 percent: Driver's finishing position from the previous race
25 percent: Car owner's finishing position from the previous race
35 percent: Team owner points ranking
15 percent: Fastest lap from the previous race
See the full lineup for Sunday's Cup Series race below.
Start pos.
Driver
Car #
Team
1
Brad Keselowski
2
Team Penske
2
William Byron
24
Hendrick Motorsports
3
Michael McDowell
34
Front Row Motorsports
4
Kevin Harvick
4
Stewart-Haas Racing
5
Matt DiBenedetto
21
Wood Brothers Racing
6
Austin Dillon
3
Richard Childress Racing
7
Ryan Blaney
12
Team Penske
8
Christopher Bell
20
Joe Gibbs Racing
9
Kyle Busch
18
Joe Gibbs Racing
10
Cole Custer
41
Stewart-Haas Racing
11
Tyler Reddick
8
Richard Childress Racing
12
Ryan Preece
37
JTG Daugherty Racing
13
Bubba Wallace
23
23XI Racing
14
Ryan Newman
6
Roush Fenway Racing
15
Martin Truex Jr.
19
Joe Gibbs Racing
16
Chris Buescher
17
Roush Fenway Racing
17
Chase Elliott
9
Hendrick Motorsports
18
Aric Almirola
10
Stewart-Haas Racing
19
Chase Briscoe
14
Stewart-Haas Racing
20
Denny Hamlin
11
Joe Gibbs Racing
21
Daniel Suarez
99
Trackhouse Racing Team
22
Anthony Alfredo
38
Front Row Motorsports
23
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
47
JTG Daugherty Racing
24
Ross Chastain
42
Chip Ganassi Racing
25
Alex Bowman
48
Hendrick Motorsports
26
Corey LaJoie
7
Spire Motorsports
27
Erik Jones
43
Richard Petty Motorsports
28
Kurt Busch
1
Chip Ganassi Racing
29
Joey Logano
22
Team Penske
30
BJ McLeod
78
Live Fast Motorsports
31
Justin Haley
77
Spire Motorsports
32
Kyle Larson
5
Hendrick Motorsports
33
Cody Ware
51
Petty Ware Racing
34
Quin Houff
00
StarCom Racing
35
Joey Gase
15
Rick Ware Racing
36
Garrett Smithley
53
Rick Ware Racing
37
Josh Bilicki
52
Rick Ware Racing
38
Austin Cindric
33
Team Penske
39
Matt Mills
55
BJ McLeod Motorsports
Practice and qualifying are tentatively scheduled for eight Cup Series races this year. Busch Pole Qualifying was held for the season-opening Daytona 500 but rain canceled the qualifying races for Bristol Motor Speedway’s dirt-track race. The next Cup Series event with qualifying scheduled is the May 23 debut at the Circuit of The Americas road course in Austin, Texas.
