Kyle Larson has won the Busch Pole Award for Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Michigan International Speedway.
Larson, the series points leader, will start his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet from the top spot for the fifth time this season. He is a five-time winner this year and a three-time winner at the 2-mile Michigan track in his Cup Series career.
Defending Xfinity Series champion Austin Cindric claimed the pole for Saturday’s New Holland 250 (3:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM) in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford at Michigan. Cindric is the series’ most recent winner, claiming his fifth victory of the season last Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course.
Austin Hill is on the pole for Friday’s Toyota 200 presented by CK Power (9 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) in the No. 16 Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota. That race at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway will open the seven-race playoffs for the Camping World Truck Series.
RELATED: Michigan, Gateway weekend schedule | 2021 Cup Series standings
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 Larson | 5 | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 2 | Chase Elliott | 9 | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 3 | Ryan Blaney | 12 | Team Penske |
| 4 | Matt DiBenedetto | 21 | Wood Brothers Racing |
| 5 | Martin Truex Jr. | 19 | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 6 | Kurt Busch | 1 | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 7 | Kyle Busch | 18 | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 8 | Kevin Harvick | 4 | Stewart-Haas Racing |
| 9 | Denny Hamlin | 11 | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 10 | Alex Bowman | 48 | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 11 | Chris Buescher | 17 | Roush Fenway Racing |
| 12 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 47 | JTG Daugherty Racing |
| 13 | Erik Jones | 43 | Richard Petty Motorsports |
| 14 | Tyler Reddick | 8 | Richard Childress Racing |
| 15 | Bubba Wallace | 23 | 23XI Racing |
| 16 | Ryan Newman | 6 | Roush Fenway Racing |
| 17 | Justin Haley | 77 | Spire Motorsports |
| 18 | William Byron | 24 | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 19 | Joey Logano | 22 | Team Penske |
| 20 | Brad Keselowski | 2 | Team Penske |
| 21 | Chase Briscoe | 14 | Stewart-Haas Racing |
| 22 | Ross Chastain | 42 | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 23 | Aric Almirola | 10 | Stewart-Haas Racing |
| 24 | Corey LaJoie | 7 | Spire Motorsports |
| 25 | Michael McDowell | 34 | Front Row Motorsports |
| 26 | Austin Dillon | 3 | Richard Childress Racing |
| 27 | Cole Custer | 41 | Stewart-Haas Racing |
| 28 | Christopher Bell | 20 | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 29 | Josh Bilicki | 52 | Rick Ware Racing |
| 30 | Daniel Suarez | 99 | Trackhouse Racing |
| 31 | Quin Houff | 00 | StarCom Racing |
| 32 | Ryan Preece | 37 | JTG Daugherty Racing |
| 33 | Garrett Smithley | 53 | Rick Ware Racing |
| 34 | James Davison | 15 | Rick Ware Racing |
| 35 | Anthony Alfredo | 38 | Front Row Motorsports |
| 36 | BJ McLeod | 78 | Live Fast Motorsports |
| 37 | Cody Ware | 51 | Petty Ware Racing |
Practice and qualifying are tentatively scheduled for eight Cup Series races this year. Just one race remains with Busch Pole Qualifying on the schedule — the season-ending championship race Nov. 7 at Phoenix Raceway.