NASCAR at Daytona lineup: Starting order, pole for Saturday's race without qualifying

Tom Gatto

NASCAR at Daytona lineup: Starting order, pole for Saturday's race without qualifying image

The starting lineup for Saturday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway was set by applying the statistical formula NASCAR is using for the majority of Cup races in 2021.

Drivers' starting positions for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 (7 p.m. ET; NBC, TSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), the final race of the 2021 regular season, 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 for eight Cup Series races in the 2021 season. Seven of those races have already been run; the one remaining race is the season-ending Championship 4 race at Phoenix Raceway in November.

Below is the starting lineup, which was set without qualifying, for Saturday's NASCAR Cup Series race on Daytona's 2.5-mile oval.

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

Who won the pole for the NASCAR race at Daytona?

Kyle Larson was assigned the top spot based on NASCAR's formula for the second race in a row. The Hendrick Motorsports driver is in a good position to clinch the regular-season points championship; he is 28 points ahead of second-place driver Denny Hamlin after his third-place finish last weekend at Michigan. The regular-season champion earns 15 bonus points that are added to his beginning playoff points total.

Larson's teammate William Byron will occupy the other spot in the front row. Byron is coming off a second-place finish at Michigan, where he lost to Ryan Blaney by 0.077 seconds after Blaney threw a block before the start-finish line.

The race will also feature a battle for the lone remaining open spot in the 16-driver Cup Series playoff field. Of the bubble drivers who can get in on points, Tyler Reddick will start 17th while his Richard Childress Racing teammate Austin Dillon will start 27th. Of the drivers who need a win to get in, Matt DiBenedetto (Wood Brothers Racing) will start the closest to the front in ninth.

NASCAR starting lineup at Daytona

NASCAR used a mathematical formula to set the starting lineup for Saturday's race at Daytona International Speedway, the Coke Zero Sugar 400. Forty cars were entered, which means there will be a full 40-car field for the race.

Start pos. Driver Car No. Team
1 Kyle Larson 5 Hendrick Motorsports
2 William Byron 24 Hendrick Motorsports
3 Denny Hamlin 11 Joe Gibbs Racing
4 Kyle Busch 18 Joe Gibbs Racing
5 Chase Elliott 9 Hendrick Motorsports
6 Ryan Blaney 12 Team Penske
7 Martin Truex Jr. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing
8 Kurt Busch 1 Chip Ganassi Racing
9 Matt DiBenedetto 21 Wood Brothers Racing
10 Brad Keselowski 2 Team Penske
11 Kevin Harvick 4 Stewart-Haas Racing
12 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing
13 Chris Buescher 17 Roush Fenway Racing
14 Christopher Bell 20 Joe Gibbs Racing
15 Alex Bowman 48 Hendrick Motorsports
16 Chase Briscoe 14 Stewart-Haas Racing
17 Tyler Reddick 8 Richard Childress Racing
18 Michael McDowell 34 Front Row Motorsports
19 Aric Almirola 10 Stewart-Haas Racing
20 Bubba Wallace 23 23XI Racing
21 Erik Jones 43 Richard Petty Motorsports
22 Joey Logano 22 Team Penske
23 Ryan Newman 6 Roush Fenway Racing
24 Ryan Preece 37 JTG Daugherty Racing
25 Cole Custer 41 Stewart-Haas Racing
26 Daniel Suarez 99 Trackhouse Racing
27 Austin Dillon 3 Richard Childress Racing
28 Justin Haley 77 Spire Motorsports
29 Ross Chastain 42 Chip Ganassi Racing
30 BJ McLeod 78 Live Fast Motorsports
31 Cody Ware 51 Petty Ware Racing
32 Anthony Alfredo 38 Front Row Motorsports
33 Corey LaJoie 7 Spire Motorsports
34 Garrett Smithley 53 Rick Ware Racing
35 Quin Houff 00 StarCom Racing
36 Josh Bilicki 52 Rick Ware Racing
37 Joey Gase 15 Rick Ware Racing
38 Kaz Grala 16 Kaulig Racing
39 Landon Cassill 96 Gaunt Brothers Racing
40 David Starr 66 Motorsports Business Management

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.