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

Tom Gatto

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

The starting lineup and pole for Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama were not set by qualifying runs or by the random draws that were held earlier in the 2020 season as NASCAR moved to reduce time spent at the track because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Instead, the starting grid for Sunday's race at Talladega, the YellaWood 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBC), was the result of a formula that took into account finishing position from the previous race, team owner points standings and the fastest lap from the previous race. This was the eighth time a version of the formula was used to determine the starting lineup for a race without qualifying. 

MORE: Updated 2020 NASCAR Cup Series schedule

The current formula was also used to determine pit stall selections, which means the pole sitter for Sunday's race made the first pit stall selection.

Below is the starting lineup for Sunday's NASCAR race at Talladega and how it was set without qualifying.

Who won the pole for the NASCAR race at Talladega?

Playoff driver Denny Hamlin was awarded the pole following his third-place finish last weekend at Las Vegas. Hamlin's Joe Gibbs Racing team is third in the NASCAR playoff standings and in excellent shape to advance to the Round of 8, although Talladega has a reputation for being a wild card that can shake up the standings.    

Joining Hamlin on the front row will be Kurt Busch, last weekend's winner at Las Vegas. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver clinched his place in the Round of 8 with the win.

The starting order for the other 10 playoff drivers in the current Round of 12: 3. Martin Truex Jr.; 4. Alex Bowman; 5. Kevin Harvick; 6. Kyle Busch; 7. Brad Keselowski; 8. Joey Logano; 9. Clint Bowyer; 10. Chase Elliott; 11. Aric Almirola; 12. Austin Dillon.

Below is the formula for how the Cup Series field was set at Talladega:

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 Talladega

The starting lineup for Sunday's race at Talladega was determined by NASCAR's new formula for setting lineups in races without qualifying. The same procedure will be used through the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

The formula produced this starting lineup for Sunday's NASCAR race at Talladega:

Starting spot Driver Car No. Team
1 Denny Hamlin (P) 11 Joe Gibbs Racing
2 Kurt Busch (P) 1 Chip Ganassi Racing
3 Martin Truex Jr. (P) 19 Joe Gibbs Racing
4 Alex Bowman (P) 88 Hendrick Motorsports
5 Kevin Harvick (P) 4 Stewart-Haas Racing
6 Kyle Busch (P) 18 Joe Gibbs Racing
7 Brad Keselowski (P) 2 Team Penske
8 Joey Logano (P) 22 Team Penske
9 Clint Bowyer (P) 14 Stewart-Haas Racing
10 Chase Elliott (P) 9 Hendrick Motorsports
11 Aric Almirola (P) 10 Stewart-Haas Racing
12 Austin Dillon (P) 3 Richard Childress Racing
13 Matt DiBenedetto 21 Wood Brothers Racing
14 Ryan Blaney 12 Team Penske
15 Chris Buescher 17 Roush Fenway Racing
16 Erik Jones 20 Joe Gibbs Racing
17 Jimmie Johnson 48 Hendrick Motorsports
18 Cole Custer 41 Stewart-Haas Racing
19 Ryan Newman 6 Roush Fenway Racing
20 Matt Kenseth 42 Chip Ganassi Racing
21 William Byron 24 Hendrick Motorsports
22 Christopher Bell 95 Leavine Family Racing
23 John Hunter Nemechek 38 Front Row Motorsports
24 Michael McDowell 34 Front Row Motorsports
25 Ryan Preece 37 JTG Daugherty Racing
26 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing
27 Bubba Wallace 43 Richard Petty Motorsports
28 Ty Dillon 13 Germain Racing
29 Corey LaJoie 32 Go Fas Racing
30 Tyler Reddick 8 Richard Childress Racing
31 Daniel Suarez 96 Gaunt Brothers Racing
32 Brennan Poole 15 Premium Motorsports
33 Quin Houff 00 StarCom Racing
34 JJ Yeley 27 Rick Ware Racing
35 Justin Haley 77 Spire Motorsports
36 Joey Gase 51 Petty Ware Racing
37 Timmy Hill 66 Motorsports Business Management
38 James Davison 53 Rick Ware Racing
39 Brendan Gaughan 62 Beard Motorsports
(P) Playoff driver.

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.