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

Tadd Haislop

NASCAR lineup at Bristol: Starting order, pole for Saturday night race without qualifying image

The starting lineup and pole for Saturday night's NASCAR race at Bristol Motor Speedway, the third race of the 2020 Cup Series playoffs, were not set by the random-draw procedure that determined the starting order for most of the races in 2020 that ran without qualifying sessions amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The starting grid for Saturday's race at Bristol, scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. ET and broadcast live on NBCSN, features some of this season's top drivers at the front of the field. It is the result of a relatively new formula that takes into account finishing position from the previous race, team owner points standings and the fastest lap from the previous race to set the lineup.

MORE: Updated 2020 NASCAR Cup Series schedule

As for pit stall selection for the NASCAR Cup Series races being run without qualifying, it is ordered based on the same formula. Which means the pole sitter for Saturday night's race (more on him below) also had the first pit stall selection.

Below is the starting lineup for Saturday night's NASCAR race at Bristol and how it was set.

Who won the pole for the NASCAR race at Bristol?

Brad Keslowski won last week's race at Richmond in relatively dominating fashion. That, in addition to his second-place standing in points, is why he earned the pole position for Saturday's Bristol night race. 

Keselowski will be joined on the front row by his Team Penske teammate, Joey Logano, who finished third last week and sits fourth in points. Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick will line up behind the Penske drivers in Row 2.

Below is the formula for how the Cup Series field was set at Bristol:

  • 35 percent: Ranking in team owner points
  • 25 percent: Driver's position from previous race
  • 25 percent: Team owner's position from previous race
  • 15 percent: Fastest lap from previous race

NASCAR starting lineup at Bristol

Saturday night's race at Bristol is just the sixth to use NASCAR's new formula for setting the starting lineup without qualifying (and the third to use it since NASCAR tweaked the finishing position portion of the formula). The same procedure will be used through the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

As for the starting lineup for Saturday night's NASCAR race at Bristol, below is the field the formula created:

Pos. Driver Car No. Team
1 Brad Keselowski (P) 2 Team Penske
2 Joey Logano (P) 22 Team Penske
3 Martin Truex Jr. (P) 19 Joe Gibbs Racing
4 Kevin Harvick (P) 4 Stewart-Haas Racing
5 Austin Dillon (P) 3 Richard Childress Racing
6 Chase Elliott (P) 9 Hendrick Motorsports
7 Denny Hamlin (P) 11 Joe Gibbs Racing
8 Alex Bowman (P) 88 Hendrick Motorsports
9 Kyle Busch (P) 18 Joe Gibbs Racing
10 Aric Almirola (P) 10 Stewart-Haas Racing
11 Clint Bowyer (P) 14 Stewart-Haas Racing
12 Cole Custer (P) 41 Stewart-Haas Racing
13 Kurt Busch (P) 1 Joe Gibbs Racing
14 Ryan Blaney (P) 12 Team Penske
15 William Byron (P) 24 Hendrick Motorsports
16 Matt DiBenedetto (P) 21 Wood Brothers Racing
17 Tyler Reddick 8 Richard Childress Racing
18 Christopher Bell 95 Leavine Family Racing
19 Matt Kenseth 42 Chip Ganassi Racing
20 Erik Jones 20 Joe Gibbs Racing
21 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing
22 Ryan Preece 37 JTG Daugherty Racing
23 Chris Buescher 17 Roush Fenway Racing
24 Jimmie Johnson 48 Hendrick Motorsports
25 Ryan Newman 6 Roush Fenway Racing
26 Michael McDowell 34 Front Row Motorsports
27 Bubba Wallace 43 Richard Petty Motorsports
28 Ty Dillon 13 Germain Racing
29 Daniel Suarez 96 Gaunt Brothers Racing
30 Corey LaJoie 32 Go Fas Racing
31 John Hunter Nemechek 38 Front Row Motorsports
32 Brennan Poole 15 Premium Motorsports
33 Quin Houff 00 StarCom Racing
34 Reed Sorenson 77 Spire Motorsports
35 James Davison 53 Rick Ware Racing
36 Joey Gase 51 Petty Ware Racing
37 Gray Gaulding 27 Rick Ware Racing
38 Timmy Hill 66 Motorsports Business Management
39 Josh Bilicki 7 Tommy Baldwin Racing
40 Garrett Smithley 78 B.J. McLeod Motorsports

Tadd Haislop

Tadd Haislop is the Associate NFL Editor at SportingNews.com.