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

Tom Gatto

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

The starting lineup for Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway 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 at Road America last weekend. 

Drivers' starting positions for the Quaker State 400 (3:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TSN, PRN, 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 the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in August and at Phoenix for the season-ending Championship 4 race in November.

Below is the starting lineup, which was set without qualifying, for Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race on Atlanta Motor Speedway's 1.5-mile oval.

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

Who won the pole for the NASCAR race at Atlanta?

Chase Elliott will start from the pole at his home track. The Hendrick Motorsports driver is coming off a dominant victory at Road America on Independence Day. The win was his second of the season, both on road courses. The 2020 series champion is searching for his first win at Atlanta; he has one top-five and four top-10 finishes in six career races at the track.

Kyle Busch will be to the outside of Elliott on the front row. Busch came home third at Road America despite starting from the rear. He will be seeking his third win of the season.

Series points leader Denny Hamlin will start third. Hamlin does not have a win yet this season, but he does have 14 top-10 finishes in the first 20 races. His lead is just three points over Kyle Larson, however. Larson will start sixth. 

NASCAR starting lineup at Atlanta

NASCAR used a mathematical formula to set the starting lineup for Sunday's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart, without qualifying. Thirty-seven drivers were entered for the race.

Start pos. Driver Car No. Team
1 Chase Elliott 9 Hendrick Motorsports
2 Kyle Busch 18 Joe Gibbs Racing
3 Denny Hamlin 11 Joe Gibbs Racing
4 Christopher Bell 20 Joe Gibbs Racing
5 Martin Truex Jr. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing
6 Kyle Larson 5 Hendrick Motorsports
7 Tyler Reddick 8 Richard Childress Racing
8 Kurt Busch 1 Chip Ganassi Racing
9 Ross Chastain 42 Chip Ganassi Racing
10 Joey Logano 22 Team Penske
11 Chase Briscoe 14 Stewart-Haas Racing
12 Matt DiBenedetto 21 Wood Brothers Racing
13 Austin Dillon 3 Richard Childress Racing
14 Brad Keselowski 2 Team Penske
15 Ryan Blaney 12 Team Penske
16 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing
17 Alex Bowman 48 Hendrick Motorsports
18 Chris Buescher 17 Roush Fenway Racing
19 William Byron 24 Hendrick Motorsports
20 Aric Almirola 10 Stewart-Haas Racing
21 Kevin Harvick 4 Stewart-Haas Racing
22 Erik Jones 43 Richard Petty Motorsports
23 Cole Custer 41 Stewart-Haas Racing
24 Bubba Wallace 23 23XI Racing
25 Michael McDowell 34 Front Row Motorsports
26 Corey LaJoie 7 Spire Motorsports
27 Daniel Suarez 99 Trackhouse Racing Team
28 Justin Haley 77 Spire Motorsports
29 Ryan Newman 6 Roush Fenway Racing
30 Josh Bilicki 52 Rick Ware Racing
31 Cody Ware 51 Petty Ware Racing
32 Anthony Alfredo 38 Front Row Motorsports
33 Bayley Currey 15 Rick Ware Racing
34 Ryan Preece 37 JTG Daugherty Racing
35 Quin Houff 00 StarCom Racing
36 BJ McLeod 78 Live Fast Motorsports
37 Garrett Smithley 53 Rick Ware Racing

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.