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

Tadd Haislop

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

The starting lineup and pole for Sunday night's NASCAR race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the fourth 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 Sunday's race at Las Vegas, scheduled to start at 7 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 Sunday night's race (more on him below) also had the first pit stall selection.

Below is the starting lineup for Sunday night's NASCAR race at Las Vegas and how it was set.

Who won the pole for the NASCAR race at Las Vegas?

As if he needed another advantage, NASCAR Cup Series points leader Kevin Harvick won the pole for Sunday night's race at Las Vegas after winning last week's race at Bristol.

Kyle Busch, who finished second behind Harvick at Bristol, will join him on the front row to start the Vegas race. Chase Elliott and Aric Almirola will line up behind them in third and fourth, respectively.

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 Las Vegas

Sunday night's race at Las Vegas is just the seventh to use NASCAR's new formula for setting the starting lineup without qualifying (and the fourth 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 Sunday night's NASCAR race at Las Vegas, below is the field the formula created:

Pos. Driver Car No. Team
1 Kevin Harvick (P) 4 Stewart-Haas Racing
2 Kyle Busch (P) 18 Joe Gibbs Racing
3 Chase Elliott (P) 9 Hendrick Motorsports
4 Aric Almirola (P) 10 Stewart-Haas Racing
5 Joey Logano (P) 22 Team Penske
6 Clint Bowyer (P) 14 Stewart-Haas Racing
7 Austin Dillon (P) 3 Richard Childress Racing
8 Alex Bowman (P) 88 Hendrick Motorsports
9 Kurt Busch (P) 1 Chip Ganassi Racing
10 Denny Hamlin (P) 11 Joe Gibbs Racing
11 Martin Truex Jr. (P) 19 Joe Gibbs Racing
12 Brad Keselowski (P) 2 Team Penske
13 Erik Jones 20 Joe Gibbs Racing
14 Tyler Reddick 8 Richard Childress Racing
15 Ryan Blaney 12 Team Penske
16 Chris Buescher 17 Roush Fenway Racing
17 Michael McDowell 34 Front Row Motorsports
18 Jimmie Johnson 48 Hendrick Motorsports
19 Matt DiBenedetto 21 Wood Brothers Racing
20 Matt Kenseth 42 Chip Ganassi Racing
21 Ryan Preece 37 JTG Daugherty Racing
22 Cole Custer 41 Stewart-Haas Racing
23 Bubba Wallace 43 Richard Petty Motorsports
24 Ty Dillon 13 Germain Racing
25 John Hunter Nemechek 38 Front Row Motorsports
26 Christopher Bell 95 Leavine Family Racing
27 Ryan Newman 6 Roush Fenway Racing
28 William Byron 24 Hendrick Motorsports
29 Daniel Suarez 96 Gaunt Brothers Racing
30 Gray Gaulding 27 Rick Ware Racing
31 Corey LaJoie 32 Go Fas Racing
32 Quin Houff 00 StarCom Racing
33 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing
34 Joey Gase 51 Petty Ware Racing
35 Brennan Poole 15 Premium Motorsports
36 Timmy Hill 66 Motorsports Business Management
37 JJ Yeley 77 Spire Motorsports
38 Josh Bilicki 7 Tommy Baldwin Racing
39 Chad Finchum 49 Motorsports Business Management

Tadd Haislop

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