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

Tom Gatto

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

The starting lineup for Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway was set by applying the statistical formula NASCAR is using for the majority of the series' races in 2021.

Drivers' starting positions for the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 (3 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 New Hampshire Motor Speedway's 1.058-mile oval.

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

Who won the pole for the NASCAR race at New Hampshire?

Kyle Busch, who has won three times at New Hampshire in the Cup Series, will be on the pole for Sunday's race. This is his first pole win of the season. He finished second to his brother, Kurt Busch, last weekend at Atlanta and his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota team is third in the point standings after 21 races.

To his outside on the front row will be JGR teammate Martin Truex Jr., whose No. 19 team is seventh in the standings. Truex came home third at Atlanta. 

The second row will feature the Chevrolets of defending series champion Chase Elliott (third) and Kurt Busch (fourth).

Series points leader Denny Hamlin will start sixth. The driver of the JGR No. 11 car is still seeking his first win of the year. 

NASCAR starting lineup at New Hampshire

NASCAR used a mathematical formula to set the starting lineup for Sunday's race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the Foxwoods Casino Resort 301. Thirty-seven cars were entered for the race.

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