Kyle Busch has secured the Busch Pole Award for Sunday’s Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN/NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Busch will start his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota from the pole position at the 1.058-mile track. He is a three-time New Hampshire winner in the Cup Series, with his most recent victory there coming in 2017. He’s scheduled to start first for the first time this year in the Cup Series.
RELATED: Cup lineup | New Hampshire schedule | Cup Series standings
Jeb Burton wrapped up the Xfinity Series pole for Saturday’s Ambetter Get Vaccinated 200 (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN/NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM) in the No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet. He was the runner-up to Busch last weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour is also in action this weekend at Loudon with Saturday’s Whelen 100 (12:45 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Gold TrackPass).
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 | Kyle Busch | 18 | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 2 | Martin Truex Jr. | 19 | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 3 | Chase Elliott | 9 | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 4 | Kurt Busch | 1 | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 5 | Alex Bowman | 48 | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 6 | Denny Hamlin | 11 | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 7 | Ryan Blaney | 12 | Team Penske |
| 8 | Tyler Reddick | 8 | Richard Childress Racing |
| 9 | Christopher Bell | 20 | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 10 | Kyle Larson | 5 | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 11 | Brad Keselowski | 2 | Team Penske |
| 12 | Kevin Harvick | 4 | Stewart-Haas Racing |
| 13 | Austin Dillon | 3 | Richard Childress Racing |
| 14 | Matt DiBenedetto | 21 | Wood Brothers Racing |
| 15 | Joey Logano | 22 | Team Penske |
| 16 | William Byron | 24 | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 17 | Chris Buescher | 17 | Roush Fenway Racing |
| 18 | Bubba Wallace | 23 | 23XI Racing |
| 19 | Chase Briscoe | 14 | Stewart-Haas Racing |
| 20 | Ross Chastain | 42 | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 21 | Cole Custer | 41 | Stewart-Haas Racing |
| 22 | Aric Almirola | 10 | Stewart-Haas Racing |
| 23 | Michael McDowell | 34 | Front Row Motorsports |
| 24 | Erik Jones | 43 | Richard Petty Motorsports |
| 25 | Ryan Preece | 37 | JTG Daugherty Racing |
| 26 | Corey LaJoie | 7 | Spire Motorsports |
| 27 | Anthony Alfredo | 38 | Front Row Motorsports |
| 28 | Ryan Newman | 6 | Roush Fenway Racing |
| 29 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 47 | JTG Daugherty Racing |
| 30 | Justin Haley | 77 | Spire Motorsports |
| 31 | Daniel Suarez | 99 | Trackhouse Racing Team |
| 32 | BJ McLeod | 78 | Live Fast Motorsports |
| 33 | Garrett Smithley | 53 | Rick Ware Racing |
| 34 | Cody Ware | 51 | Petty Ware Racing |
| 35 | Josh Bilicki | 52 | Rick Ware Racing |
| 36 | Quin Houff | 00 | StarCom Racing |
| 37 | James Davison | 15 | Rick Ware Racing |
Practice and qualifying are tentatively scheduled for eight Cup Series races this year. Two races remain with Busch Pole Qualifying on the schedule — Aug. 15 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course and the season-ending championship race Nov. 7 at Phoenix Raceway.