NASCAR lineup at Bristol: Starting order, pole for Food City Dirt Race after qualifying heats

Tom Gatto

NASCAR lineup at Bristol: Starting order, pole for Food City Dirt Race after qualifying heats image

NASCAR is getting dirty again. For the second year in a row, there is racing on red clay atop of Bristol Motor Speedway's iconic track.

Cup Series drivers raced on the surface Saturday night to determine the starting order for Sunday night's Food City Dirt Race. Four 15-lap qualifying heats were run, with nine drivers per heat. The lineups for the heat races were set by random draw, with selections made in order of team owner points.

Drivers received points for where they finished in the heat races (10 for first place, two for last place) and how many spots they improved their starting position by passing (one point for each spot gained between start and finish).

The driver with the most points after the heat races was awarded the pole position. Owner points were used to break ties. 

The Sporting News provided live results from the qualifying heats and is posting the starting order for the Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway below.

MORE: Watch the Food City Dirt Race live with fuboTV (free trial)

Food City Dirt Race qualifying heat results

The heat races began at 6 p.m. ET.

Heat 1 results

Finish Driver Points
1. Tyler Reddick 13
2. Cole Custer 16
3. Alex Bowman 10
4. Brad Keselowski 7
5. Todd Gilliland 6
6. Ryan Blaney 5
7. Corey LaJoie 4
8. Martin Truex Jr. 3
9. Ross Chastain 2

Heat 2 results

Finish Driver Points
1. Christopher Bell 14
2. Kyle Busch 9
3. Chase Briscoe 12
4. Michael McDowell 7
5. Erik Jones 6
6. Justin Allgaier 5
7. Daniel Suarez 6
8. Kevin Harvick 3
9. Josh Williams 2

Heat 3 results

Finish Driver Points
1. Justin Haley 11
2. Joey Logano 9
3. Chris Buescher 9
4. Kurt Busch 8
5. Austin Dillon 9
6. Bubba Wallace 6
7. J.J. Yeley 4
8. Noah Gragson 4
9. Denny Hamlin 2

Heat 4 results

Finish Driver Points
1. Ty Dillon 11
2. Chase Elliott 9
3. Kyle Larson 11
4. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 7
5. William Byron 6
6. Austin Cindric 5
7. Harrison Burton 6
8. Aric Almirola 2
9. Cody Ware 1

Who won the pole for the NASCAR race at Bristol?

Cole Custer earned the pole by scoring 16 points in Heat 1. Custer finished second in the heat (nine points) and came from last place (seven passing points) to do it. Christopher Bell, the winner of Heat 2, will start second after scoring 14 points.

Starting lineup for Bristol race

The starting order for the Food City Dirt Race was set by the results of the four qualifying heat races. Only the 36 Cup Series charter teams entered the race. 

Starting pos. Driver Car No. Team
1. Cole Custer 41 Stewart-Haas Racing
2. Christopher Bell 20 Joe Gibbs Racing
3. Tyler Reddick 8 Richard Childress Racing
4. Chase Briscoe 14 Stewart-Haas Racing
5. Kyle Larson 5 Hendrick Motorsports
6. Justin Haley 31 Kaulig Racing
7. Ty Dillon 42 Petty GMS Motorsports
8. Alex Bowman 48 Hendrick Motorsports
9. Chase Elliott 9 Hendrick Motorsports
10. Joey Logano 22 Team Penske
11. Kyle Busch 18 Joe Gibbs Racing
12. Austin Dillon 3 Richard Childress Racing
13. Kurt Busch 45 23XI Racing
14. Erik Jones 43 Petty GMS Motorsports
15. Chris Buescher 17 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing
16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing
17. Michael McDowell 34 Front Row Motorsports
18. Brad Keselowski 6 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing
19. William Byron 24 Hendrick Motorsports
20. Austin Cindric 2 Team Penske
21. Daniel Suarez 99 TrackHouse Racing
22. Bubba Wallace 23 23XI Racing
23. Todd Gilliland 38 Front Row Motorsports
24. Harrison Burton 21 Wood Brothers Racing
25. Ryan Blaney 12 Team Penske
26. Corey LaJoie 7 Spire Motorsports
27. Justin Allgaier 77 Spire Motorsports
28. Noah Gragson 16 Kaulig Racing
29. J.J. Yeley 15 Rick Ware Racing
30. Martin Truex Jr. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing
31. Aric Almirola 10 Stewart-Haas Racing
32. Kevin Harvick 4 Stewart-Haas Racing
33. Ross Chastain 1 TrackHouse Racing
34. Denny Hamlin 11 Joe Gibbs Racing
35. Cody Ware 51 Rick Ware Racing
36. Josh Williams 78 Live Fast Motorsports

Tom Gatto

Tom Gatto Photo

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.