NASCAR lineup at Darlington: Starting order, pole for Goodyear 400 after qualifying

Tom Gatto

NASCAR lineup at Darlington: Starting order, pole for Goodyear 400 after qualifying image

NASCAR is throwing it way back again at Darlington. The Cup Series is holding its annual celebration of stock racing history this weekend, capped by the Goodyear 400 on Mother's Day.

The day will be all about retro paint schemes on the cars, series legends returning to the track and a storied venue that's ready to tear up some more sheet metal.

The current drivers found out Saturday during qualifying how they'll line up for the start of the race Sunday afternoon (3:42 p.m. ET green flag; FS1, TSN5, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Here's a look at the pole winner and starting lineup for the 12th race on the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series schedule.    

MORE: Watch the Goodyear 400 live with fuboTV (free trial)

Who won the pole for the NASCAR race at Darlington?

Joey Logano will lead the field to green on Sunday after turning a 170.720 mph lap in the final round of qualifying. This is Logano's 23rd career Cup Series pole and his first since 2019.

He said the P1 was "so much needed" for the Team Penske No. 22 team.

"The last couple of weeks were pretty rough, getting in a couple of crashes and not being strong at Dover," he said, per NASCAR.com. Logano finished 29th in the rain-delayed race at Dover last weekend. 

Kyle Larson will be alongside Logano on the front row after putting the Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 car in P2. 

Starting lineup for Darlington race

The 36 charter teams in the Cup Series comprise the field for Sunday's race. Three Joe Gibbs Racing drivers will start bunched together: Christopher Bell in third, Martin Truex Jr. in fourth and Kyle Busch in fifth. Busch will be a race-day decision as the birth of his second child nears. Trevor Bayne is on standby to drive the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 car if Busch has to head home for the delivery.

Two big-name drivers will line up in the back of the pack: Chase Elliott in 34th and Kevin Harvick in 35th. Elliott's Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 car crashed in practice after a tire went flat. Harvick was also the victim of a flat; the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 car took on too much damage to make a qualifying run.   

Starting pos.DriverCar No.Team
1Joey Logano22Team Penske
2Kyle Larson5Hendrick Motorsports
3Christopher Bell20Joe Gibbs Racing
4Martin Truex Jr.19Joe Gibbs Racing
5Kyle Busch18Joe Gibbs Racing
6Kurt Busch4523XI Racing
7Ryan Blaney12Team Penske
8Ross Chastain1TrackHouse Racing
9William Byron24Hendrick Motorsports
10Tyler Reddick8Richard Childress Racing
11Erik Jones43Petty GMS Motorsports
12Aric Almirola10Stewart-Haas Racing
13Chase Briscoe14Stewart-Haas Racing
14Austin Dillon3Richard Childress Racing
15Alex Bowman48Hendrick Motorsports
16Michael McDowell34Front Row Motorsports
17Bubba Wallace2323XI Racing
18Chris Buescher17Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing
19Austin Cindric2Team Penske
20Daniel Suarez99TrackHouse Racing
21Ty Dillon42Petty GMS Motorsports
22Denny Hamlin11Joe Gibbs Racing
23Brad Keselowski6Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing
24Daniel Hemric16Kaulig Racing
25Harrison Burton21Wood Brothers Racing
26Ricky Stenhouse Jr.47JTG Daugherty Racing
27Todd Gilliland38Front Row Motorsports
28Cole Custer41Stewart-Haas Racing
29Justin Haley31Kaulig Racing
30Corey LaJoie7Spire Motorsports
31Cody Ware51Rick Ware Racing
32JJ Yeley15Rick Ware Racing
33Landon Cassill77Spire Motorsports
34Chase Elliott9Hendrick Motorsports
35Kevin Harvick4Stewart-Haas Racing
36BJ McLeod78Live Fast Motorsports

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.