NASCAR lineup at Pocono: Starting order, pole for Sunday's race

Tom Gatto

NASCAR lineup at Pocono: Starting order, pole for Sunday's race image

The starting lineup for Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway, the second race of a weekend doubleheader at the Pennsylvania track, was set based on the results of Saturday's opening race.

Drivers' starting positions for the Explore the Pocono Mountains 350 (3:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TSN2, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) were determined two ways:

  • The top 20 drivers' finishing positions were inverted. Saturday's race winner will start 20th on Sunday and the 20th-pace finisher will begin on the pole.
  • Drivers who finished 21st through 38th Saturday will start in the same positions on Sunday.

NASCAR has used inversion for previous Pocono doubleheaders and went to it last year when tracks hosted multiple races during the week because of schedule changes forced by the COVID-19 shutdown.

Below is the starting lineup for Sunday'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 Sunday race at Pocono?

Chris Buescher will take the green flag Sunday after finishing 20th in Saturday's race. Buescher held off Austin Dillon for the pole "win." Michael McDowell will join Buescher on the front row after a 19th-place finish.

The rest of the top 10, respectively: Martin Truex Jr., Christopher Bell, Aric Almirola, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.. Bubba Wallace, Daniel Suarez, Chase Elliott and Tyler Reddick.

Race winner Alex Bowman will invert to the 20th starting position.

Kyle Larson finished ninth Saturday after the left front tire on his No. 5 car went flat on the last turn of the last lap, but has to drop to the rear of the field for the start of Sunday's race because he'll drive a backup car.

NASCAR starting lineup at Pocono

NASCAR used the official results of Saturday's Pocono Organics 325 to set the starting lineup for Sunday's race at Pocono Raceway, the Explore the Pocono Mountains 350. NASCAR inverted 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 were assigned the same positions for Sunday.

Pos. Driver Car No. Team
1 Chris Buescher 17 Roush Fenway Racing
2 Michael McDowell 34 Front Row Motorsports
3 Martin Truex Jr. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing
4 Christopher Bell 20 Joe Gibbs Racing
5 Aric Almirola 10 Stewart-Haas Racing
6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing
7 Bubba Wallace 23 23XI Racing
8 Daniel Suarez 99 Trackhouse Racing Team
9 Chase Elliott 9 Hendrick Motorsports
10 Tyler Reddick 8 Richard Childress Racing
11 Brad Keselowski 2 Team Penske
12 Kyle Larson* 5 Hendrick Motorsports
13 Kevin Harvick 4 Stewart-Haas Racing
14 Joey Logano 22 Team Penske
15 Kurt Busch 1 Chip Ganassi Racing
16 Ryan Blaney 12 Team Penske
17 Denny Hamlin 11 Joe Gibbs Racing
18 William Byron 24 Hendrick Motorsports
19 Kyle Busch 18 Joe Gibbs Racing
20 Alex Bowman 48 Hendrick Motorsports
21 Austin Dillon 3 Richard Childress Racing
22 Erik Jones 43 Richard Petty Motorsports
23 Ryan Preece 37 JTG Daugherty Racing
24 Chase Briscoe 14 Stewart-Haas Racing
25 Cody Ware 51 Petty Ware Racing
26 Anthony Alfredo 38 Front Row Motorsports
27 Justin Haley 77 Spire Motorsports
28 James Davison 15 Rick Ware Racing
29 Garrett Smithley 53 Rick Ware Racing
30 BJ McLeod 78 Live Fast Motorsports
31 Quin Houff 00 Starcom Racing
32 Matt DiBenedetto 21 Wood Brothers Racing
33 Ross Chastain 42 Chip Ganassi Racing
34 Josh Bilicki 52 Rick Ware Racing
35 Timmy Hill 66 Motorsports Business Management
36 Corey Lajoie 7 Spire Motorsports
37 Ryan Newman 6 Roush Fenway Racing
38 Cole Custer 41 Stewart-Haas Racing

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

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.