The starting lineup for Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway was set by applying the statistical formula NASCAR is using for the majority of its 2021 races.
Drivers' starting positions for the Buschy McBusch Race 400 (3 p.m. ET; FS1, TSN, MRN, 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. Six races in that group remain, starting with the May 23 event at Circuit of the Americas, a road course outside Austin, Texas.
Below is the starting lineup, which was set without qualifying, for Sunday's NASCAR race on the 1.5-mile track at Kansas Speedway.
MORE: Watch Sunday's NASCAR race live with fuboTV (free 7-day trial)
Who won the pole for the NASCAR race at Kansas?
Brad Keselowski is the polesitter for Sunday's race based on NASCAR's mathematical formula. Keselowski pulled off a last-lap pass to win last weekend's race at Talladega. The Team Penske driver is sixth in the Cup Series point standings through 10 races but is eligible for the Cup Series playoffs following his win. He has already won twice at Kansas in his career, in 2011 and 2019.
The other driver on the front row Sunday will be William Byron. The Hendrick Motorsports driver is fourth in the point standings following his runner-up finish to Keselowski at Talladega.
Michael McDowell, Kevin Harvick, Matt DiBenedetto, Austin Dillon, Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Kyle Busch and Cole Custer complete the top 10.
A historical note: The pole winner has won six times in the 30 previous Cup Series races at Kansas (20 percent). The last one to do it was Harvick in 2018.
NASCAR starting lineup at Kansas
The starting lineup for Sunday's race at Kansas Speedway was determined through a mathematical formula, which produced this starting lineup for the Busch McBusch Race 400 without qualifying:
| Start pos. | Driver | Car No. | Team |
| 1 | Brad Keselowski | 2 | Team Penske |
| 2 | William Byron | 24 | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 3 | Michael McDowell | 34 | Front Row Motorsports |
| 4 | Kevin Harvick | 4 | Stewart-Haas Racing |
| 5 | Matt DiBenedetto | 21 | Wood Brothers Racing |
| 6 | Austin Dillon | 3 | Richard Childress Racing |
| 7 | Ryan Blaney | 12 | Team Penske |
| 8 | Christopher Bell | 20 | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 9 | Kyle Busch | 18 | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 10 | Cole Custer | 41 | Stewart-Haas Racing |
| 11 | Tyler Reddick | 8 | Richard Childress Racing |
| 12 | Ryan Preece | 37 | JTG Daugherty Racing |
| 13 | Bubba Wallace | 23 | 23XI Racing |
| 14 | Ryan Newman | 6 | Roush Fenway Racing |
| 15 | Martin Truex Jr. | 19 | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 16 | Chris Buescher | 17 | Roush Fenway Racing |
| 17 | Chase Elliott | 9 | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 18 | Aric Almirola | 10 | Stewart-Haas Racing |
| 19 | Chase Briscoe | 14 | Stewart-Haas Racing |
| 20 | Denny Hamlin | 11 | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 21 | Daniel Suarez | 99 | Trackhouse Racing Team |
| 22 | Anthony Alfredo | 38 | Front Row Motorsports |
| 23 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 47 | JTG Daugherty Racing |
| 24 | Ross Chastain | 42 | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 25 | Alex Bowman | 48 | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 26 | Corey LaJoie | 7 | Spire Motorsports |
| 27 | Erik Jones | 43 | Richard Petty Motorsports |
| 28 | Kurt Busch | 1 | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 29 | Joey Logano | 22 | Team Penske |
| 30 | BJ McLeod | 78 | Live Fast Motorsports |
| 31 | Justin Haley | 77 | Spire Motorsports |
| 32 | Kyle Larson | 5 | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 33 | Cody Ware | 51 | Petty Ware Racing |
| 34 | Quin Houff | 00 | StarCom Racing |
| 35 | Joey Gase | 15 | Rick Ware Racing |
| 36 | Garrett Smithley | 53 | Rick Ware Racing |
| 37 | Josh Bilicki | 52 | Rick Ware Racing |
| 38 | Austin Cindric | 33 | Team Penske |
| 39 | Matt Mills | 55 | BJ McLeod Motorsports |
