NASCAR lineup at Las Vegas: Starting order, pole for Sunday's race without qualifying

Tadd Haislop

NASCAR lineup at Las Vegas: Starting order, pole for Sunday's race without qualifying image

The starting lineup and pole for Sunday night's NASCAR race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the fourth race of the 2020 Cup Series playoffs, were not set by the random-draw procedure that determined the starting order for most of the races in 2020 that ran without qualifying sessions amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The starting grid for Sunday's race at Las Vegas, scheduled to start at 7 p.m. ET and broadcast live on NBCSN, features some of this season's top drivers at the front of the field. It is the result of a relatively new formula that takes into account finishing position from the previous race, team owner points standings and the fastest lap from the previous race to set the lineup.

MORE: Updated 2020 NASCAR Cup Series schedule

As for pit stall selection for the NASCAR Cup Series races being run without qualifying, it is ordered based on the same formula. Which means the pole sitter for Sunday night's race (more on him below) also had the first pit stall selection.

Below is the starting lineup for Sunday night's NASCAR race at Las Vegas and how it was set.

Who won the pole for the NASCAR race at Las Vegas?

As if he needed another advantage, NASCAR Cup Series points leader Kevin Harvick won the pole for Sunday night's race at Las Vegas after winning last week's race at Bristol.

Kyle Busch, who finished second behind Harvick at Bristol, will join him on the front row to start the Vegas race. Chase Elliott and Aric Almirola will line up behind them in third and fourth, respectively.

Below is the formula for how the Cup Series field was set at Bristol:

  • 35 percent: Ranking in team owner points
  • 25 percent: Driver's position from previous race
  • 25 percent: Team owner's position from previous race
  • 15 percent: Fastest lap from previous race

NASCAR starting lineup at Las Vegas

Sunday night's race at Las Vegas is just the seventh to use NASCAR's new formula for setting the starting lineup without qualifying (and the fourth to use it since NASCAR tweaked the finishing position portion of the formula). The same procedure will be used through the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

As for the starting lineup for Sunday night's NASCAR race at Las Vegas, below is the field the formula created:

Pos.DriverCar No.Team
1Kevin Harvick (P)4Stewart-Haas Racing
2Kyle Busch (P)18Joe Gibbs Racing
3Chase Elliott (P)9Hendrick Motorsports
4Aric Almirola (P)10Stewart-Haas Racing
5Joey Logano (P)22Team Penske
6Clint Bowyer (P)14Stewart-Haas Racing
7Austin Dillon (P)3Richard Childress Racing
8Alex Bowman (P)88Hendrick Motorsports
9Kurt Busch (P)1Chip Ganassi Racing
10Denny Hamlin (P)11Joe Gibbs Racing
11Martin Truex Jr. (P)19Joe Gibbs Racing
12Brad Keselowski (P)2Team Penske
13Erik Jones20Joe Gibbs Racing
14Tyler Reddick8Richard Childress Racing
15Ryan Blaney12Team Penske
16Chris Buescher17Roush Fenway Racing
17Michael McDowell34Front Row Motorsports
18Jimmie Johnson48Hendrick Motorsports
19Matt DiBenedetto21Wood Brothers Racing
20Matt Kenseth42Chip Ganassi Racing
21Ryan Preece37JTG Daugherty Racing
22Cole Custer41Stewart-Haas Racing
23Bubba Wallace43Richard Petty Motorsports
24Ty Dillon13Germain Racing
25John Hunter Nemechek38Front Row Motorsports
26Christopher Bell95Leavine Family Racing
27Ryan Newman6Roush Fenway Racing
28William Byron24Hendrick Motorsports
29Daniel Suarez96Gaunt Brothers Racing
30Gray Gaulding27Rick Ware Racing
31Corey LaJoie32Go Fas Racing
32Quin Houff00StarCom Racing
33Ricky Stenhouse Jr.47JTG Daugherty Racing
34Joey Gase51Petty Ware Racing
35Brennan Poole15Premium Motorsports
36Timmy Hill66Motorsports Business Management
37JJ Yeley77Spire Motorsports
38Josh Bilicki7Tommy Baldwin Racing
39Chad Finchum49Motorsports Business Management

Tadd Haislop

Tadd Haislop is the Associate NFL Editor at SportingNews.com.