NASCAR lineup at Pocono: Starting order, pole for Saturday race without qualifying

The starting lineup for Saturday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway, the first race of a weekend doubleheader at the Pennsylvania track, was set by applying the statistical formula NASCAR is using for the majority of the series' races in 2021.

NASCAR returned to the formula after holding qualifying last weekend at Nashville Superspeedway. 

Drivers' starting positions for the Pocono Organics CBD 325 (3 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TSN2, 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 remaining sessions will be held at Road America, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and Phoenix. Road America and the Indy road course are new tracks on NASCAR's Cup schedule, and Phoenix is the site of the season-ending Championship 4 race.

Below is the starting lineup, which was set without qualifying, for Saturday's NASCAR Cup Series race on Pocono Raceway's 2.5-mile tri-oval.

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

Who won the pole for the NASCAR Saturday race at Pocono?

Kyle Larson will lead the field to the green flag Saturday. The Hendrick Motorsports driver is the hottest wheel man on the planet with wins in three consecutive points-paying races and a victory in the All-Star Race exhibition sandwiched between them. Larson is second in the season point standings, just 10 points behind leader Denny Hamlin. 

Teammate William Byron will be next to Larson on the front row Saturday. Byron finished third at Nashville and is third in the point standings.

The rest of the top 10: Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, Ross Chastain, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Kurt Busch, Christopher Bell and Hamlin.

Larson's pole assignment gave him the No. 1 pit stall position Saturday.

NASCAR starting lineup at Pocono

NASCAR used a mathematical formula to set the starting lineup for Saturday's race at Pocono Raceway, the Pocono Organics CBD 325, without qualifying.

The starting grid for Sunday's race, the Explore the Pocono Mountains 350, will be set differently: NASCAR will invert the order of the top 20 finishers in Saturday's race, meaning the race winner will start 20th and the 20th-place finisher will start on the pole Sunday. The bottom 18 finishers in the 38-car field (21st through 38th) Saturday will be assigned the same positions Sunday.

Saturday lineup

Sunday lineup

*Larson will start at the rear of the field and race in a backup car Sunday because of a crash in Saturday's race.