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 its 2021 races.
Drivers' starting positions for the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 (3 p.m. ET; Fox, 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)
Below is the starting lineup for Sunday's NASCAR race on the 1.5-mile track at Atlanta, which was set without qualifying.
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Who won the pole for the NASCAR race at Atlanta?
Denny Hamlin, the Cup Series point leader after five races, is the pole-sitter based on the math. His Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr., last weekend's winner at Phoenix, will start second.
Hamlin leads the series with four top-five finishes and three stage wins, but he has yet to win a race this season.
The rest of the top 10 after Hamlin and Truex: Joey Logano (Team Penske), Brad Keselowski (Team Penske), Chase Elliott (Hendrick Motorsports), Kyle Larson (Hendrick Motorsports), Kevin Harvick (Stewart-Haas Racing), Christopher Bell (Joe Gibbs Racing), William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports) and Ryan Blaney (Team Penske).
NASCAR starting lineup at Atlanta
The starting lineup for Sunday's race at Atlanta was determined through a mathematical formula NASCAR adopted late in the 2020 season. The formula produced this starting lineup for Sunday's NASCAR race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500:
| Starting pos. | Driver | Car No. | Team |
| 1 | Denny Hamlin | 11 | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 2 | Martin Truex Jr. | 19 | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 3 | Joey Logano | 22 | Team Penske |
| 4 | Brad Keselowski | 2 | Team Penske |
| 5 | Chase Elliott | 9 | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 6 | Kyle Larson | 5 | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 7 | Kevin Harvick | 4 | Stewart-Haas Racing |
| 8 | Christopher Bell | 20 | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 9 | William Byron | 24 | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 10 | Ryan Blaney | 12 | Team Penske |
| 11 | Kurt Busch | 1 | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 12 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 47 | JTG Daugherty Racing |
| 13 | Austin Dillon | 3 | Richard Childress Racing |
| 14 | Alex Bowman | 48 | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 15 | Bubba Wallace | 23 | 23XI Racing |
| 16 | Aric Almirola | 10 | Stewart-Haas Racing |
| 17 | Chris Buescher | 17 | Roush Fenway Racing |
| 18 | Michael McDowell | 34 | Front Row Motorsports |
| 19 | Kyle Busch | 18 | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 20 | Matt DiBenedetto | 21 | Wood Brothers Racing |
| 21 | Ross Chastain | 42 | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 22 | Erik Jones | 43 | Richard Petty Motorsports |
| 23 | Ryan Preece | 37 | JTG Daugherty Racing |
| 24 | Chase Briscoe | 14 | Stewart-Haas Racing |
| 25 | Daniel Suarez | 99 | TrackHouse Racing Team |
| 26 | Justin Haley | 77 | Spire Motorsports |
| 27 | Cole Custer | 41 | Stewart-Haas Racing |
| 28 | Ryan Newman | 6 | Roush Fenway Racing |
| 29 | Tyler Reddick | 8 | Richard Childress Racing |
| 30 | Corey LaJoie | 7 | Spire Motorsports |
| 31 | BJ McLeod | 78 | Live Fast Motorsports |
| 32 | Anthony Alfredo | 38 | Front Row Motorsports |
| 33 | Cody Ware | 51 | Petty Ware Racing |
| 34 | James Davison | 15 | Rick Ware Racing |
| 35 | Quin Houff | 00 | StarCom Racing |
| 36 | Joey Gase | 53 | Rick Ware Racing |
| 37 | Josh Bilicki | 52 | Rick Ware Racing |
| 38 | Timmy Hill | 66 | Motorsports Business Management |
| 39 | Austin Cindric | 33 | Team Penske |
