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

The starting lineup for Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway was set by applying the statistical formula NASCAR is using for the majority of its 2021 races.

Drivers' starting positions for the Goodyear 400 (3:30 p.m. ET; FS1, TSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) were based on four factors:

• Driver's finishing position from the previous race (25 percent)
• Car owner's finishing position from the previous race (25 percent)
• Team owner points ranking (35 percent)
• Fastest lap from the previous race (15 percent)

NASCAR is conducting qualifying and practice for just eight Cup Series races in the 2021 season. The next session will take place just prior to the May 23 event at Circuit of the Americas, a road course outside Austin, Texas.

Below is the starting lineup, which was set without qualifying, for Sunday's NASCAR race on Darlington's 1.366-mile egg-shaped oval.

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

Who won the pole for the NASCAR race at Darlington?

NASCAR's formula came up with Brad Keselowski being on the pole at Darlington. Keselowski was also the polesitter for last weekend's race, the Buschy McBusch Race 400 at Kansas. He is sixth in the Cup Series point standings but has a win (Talladega) and a third-place finish (Kansas) in his last two races.

Kevin Harvick was tapped to start beside Keselowski on the front row. Harvick won two of the three races at Darlington last year and finished third in the other one. Like Keselowski, he's coming off back-to-back top-fives: fourth at Talladega and second at Kansas.

Kyle Busch, last weekend's winner, was placed in the third spot for Sunday's race. Martin Truex Jr., William Byron, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Matt DiBenedetto, Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick round out the top 10.

NASCAR starting lineup at Darlington

The starting lineup for Sunday's race at Darlington Raceway, aka the track Too Tough to Tame, aka the Lady in Black, was determined through a mathematical formula, which produced this starting lineup for the Goodyear 400 without qualifying: