NASCAR lineup at Charlotte: Starting order, pole for Sunday's race with qualifying

Tom Gatto

NASCAR lineup at Charlotte: Starting order, pole for Sunday's race with qualifying image

NASCAR conducted qualifying for just the fourth time this season Saturday when drivers took one lap each around the 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway track to set the starting lineup for Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 (6 p.m. ET; Fox, TSN, PRN).

On-track qualifying is a rarity this season as NASCAR tries to limit the amount of time teams spend at the track amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Only eight races total are scheduled to have practice and qualifying in 2021; Charlotte was No. 4, joining Daytona (for the Daytona 500), Bristol's dirt track and Circuit of the Americas.

The remaining sessions will be for new tracks on the schedule (Nashville, Road America and Indianapolis' road course) and the season-ending Championship 4 race at Phoenix.

Below is the starting lineup, which was set with qualifying, for Sunday's NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

MORE: Watch Sunday's NASCAR race live with fuboTV (free 7-day trial)

Who won the pole for the NASCAR race at Charlotte?

Kyle Larson turned the fastest lap in qualifying, edging out Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott. Larson knocked Elliott off the top spot with his run.

He completed his lap in 29.953 seconds for a speed of 180.282 mph. He wasn't convinced his car was that fast as he was wheeling it around the track, however.

"Felt really balanced, so a lot of times, if that's the case, you think it might be slow," he told FS1's Vince Welch.

Austin Dillon, who led Friday's practice, qualified sixth.

NASCAR starting lineup at Charlotte

DriverCar No.Team
Kyle Larson5Hendrick Motorsports
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.47JTG Daugherty Racing
Chase Elliott9Hendrick Motorsports
William Byron24Hendrick Motorsports
Kevin Harvick4Stewart-Haas Racing
Austin Dillon3Richard Childress Racing
Alex Bowman48Hendrick Motorsports
Martin Truex Jr.19Joe Gibbs Racing
Daniel Suarez99Trackhouse Racing
Ross Chastain42Chip Ganassi Racing
Ryan Blaney12Team Penske
Kurt Busch1Chip Ganassi Racing
Brad Keselowski2Team Penske
Denny Hamlin11Joe Gibbs Racing
Tyler Reddick8Richard Childress Racing
Joey Logano22Team Penske
Christopher Bell20Joe Gibbs Racing
Bubba Wallace2323XI Racing
Erik Jones43Richard Petty Motorsports
Kyle Busch18Joe Gibbs Racing
Chase Briscoe14Stewart-Haas Racing
Matt DiBenedetto21Wood Brothers Racing
Cole Custer41Stewart-Haas Racing
Michael McDowell34Front Row Motorsports
Ryan Newman6Roush Fenway Racing
Corey LaJoie7Spire Motorsports
Chris Buescher17Roush Fenway Racing
Ryan Preece37JTG Daugherty Racing
Anthony Alfredo38Front Row Motorsports
Justin Haley77Spire Motorsports
Aric Almirola10Stewart-Haas Racing
Quin Houff00StarCom Racing
BJ McLeod78Live Fast Motorsports
Cody Ware53Rick Ware Racing
James Davison15Rick Ware Racing
Garrett Smithley51Petty Ware Racing
Josh Bilicki52Rick Ware Racing
David Starr66Motorsports Business Management

Tom Gatto

Tom Gatto joined The Sporting News as a senior editor in 2000 after 12 years at The Herald-News in Passaic, N.J., where he served in a variety of roles including sports editor, and a brief spell at APBNews.com in New York, where he worked as a syndication editor. He is a 1986 graduate of the University of South Carolina.