Keselowski earns pole position for Sunday’s Cup Series throwback race at Darlington
Staff Report
Chris Graythen | Getty Images
Brad Keselowski has claimed the Busch Pole Award for Sunday's Goodyear 400 (3:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Darlington Raceway.
Keselowski will start his No. 2 Team Penske Ford from the pole position for the second week in a row. He finished third last weekend at Kansas Speedway and won the race before that at Talladega Superspeedway.
RELATED: Darlington weekend schedule | 2021 Cup Series standings
John Hunter Nemechek's No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota is on the pole for Friday's LiftKits4Less.com 200 (7:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM) in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, and AJ Allmendinger's No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet is on the pole for Saturday's Steakhouse Elite 200 (1 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM) in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
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
Kevin Harvick
4
Stewart-Haas Racing
3
Kyle Busch
18
Joe Gibbs Racing
4
Martin Truex Jr.
19
Joe Gibbs Racing
5
William Byron
24
Hendrick Motorsports
6
Chase Elliott
9
Hendrick Motorsports
7
Denny Hamlin
11
Joe Gibbs Racing
8
Matt DiBenedetto
21
Wood Brothers Racing
9
Austin Dillon
3
Richard Childress Racing
10
Tyler Reddick
8
Richard Childress Racing
11
Chris Buescher
17
Roush Fenway Racing
12
Joey Logano
22
Team Penske
13
Michael McDowell
34
Front Row Motorsports
14
Kyle Larson
5
Hendrick Motorsports
15
Daniel Suarez
99
Trackhouse Racing Team
16
Ryan Blaney
12
Team Penske
17
Kurt Busch
1
Chip Ganassi Racing
18
Ross Chastain
42
Chip Ganassi Racing
19
Alex Bowman
48
Hendrick Motorsports
20
Ryan Newman
6
Roush Fenway Racing
21
Christopher Bell
20
Joe Gibbs Racing
22
Chase Briscoe
14
Stewart-Haas Racing
23
Bubba Wallace
23
23XI Racing
24
Cole Custer
41
Stewart-Haas Racing
25
Anthony Alfredo
38
Front Row Motorsports
26
Erik Jones
43
Richard Petty Motorsports
27
Aric Almirola
10
Stewart-Haas Racing
28
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
47
JTG Daugherty Racing
29
Ryan Preece
37
JTG Daugherty Racing
30
Corey LaJoie
7
Spire Motorsports
31
Justin Haley
77
Spire Motorsports
32
BJ McLeod
78
Live Fast Motorsports
33
Cody Ware
51
Petty Ware Racing
34
JJ Yeley
53
Rick Ware Racing
35
Quin Houff
00
StarCom Racing
36
James Davison
15
Rick Ware Racing
37
Josh Bilicki
52
Rick Ware Racing
Practice and qualifying are tentatively scheduled for eight Cup Series races this year. Busch Pole Qualifying was held for the season-opening Daytona 500, and 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.