NASCAR: How will Darlington qualifying be conducted?

Here is how NASCAR plans to go about setting the starting lineups for the two Cup Series races scheduled to take place at Darlington Raceway.

Following a 10-week hiatus that took place as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, NASCAR is finally scheduled to get back into action this Sunday, May 17 with the first of two races at Darlington Raceway over the course of the next week.

This race, the fifth race of the season, is set to be the first race since the race at Phoenix Raceway back on Sunday, March 8.

Darlington Raceway is then scheduled to host a second race on Wednesday, May 20 before the series travels to Charlotte Motor Speedway for two races, one next Sunday, May 24 and the other one on Wednesday, May 27.

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However, there will not be traditional qualifying sessions for the two races at the four-turn, 1.366-mile (2.198-kilometer) oval in Darlington, South Carolina.

So how does NASCAR plan to go about setting the starting lineups for these two races?

For the first race, the 293-lap The Real Heroes 400, there is set to be a random draw. But it won’t be completely random, as drivers will be placed into groups determined by team owner points.

Positions 1 through 12 will be determined by a random draw from charter teams in those positions in team owner points. The same will be done for positions 13 through 24 and positions 25 through 36. The four non-chartered entries will fill out positions 37 to 40 in order of owner points, and all four spots are set to be occupied because the entry list is full.

For the second race, the 228-lap Darlington 500K, there will also not be a traditional qualifying session, but it won’t be completely random, either.

Drivers will start in positions determined based on where they finished in Sunday’s race. The drivers who finish in the top 20 will line up in the top 20, but in reverse order. So the 20th place finisher will start from the pole position while the winner will start in 20th.

The drivers who finish outside of the top 20 will start the second race where they finished the first (so the 21st place driver will start in 21st) and any new entries will be added to the rear of the field.

The random draw for this Sunday’s race at Darlington Raceway is set to be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1 this evening beginning at 6:00 p.m. ET. The race itself is set to be broadcast live on Fox beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET on May 17.