NASCAR: Texas starting lineup – Aric Almirola on pole
By Asher Fair
Aric Almirola drew the pole position for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway, the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500.
For the second time in the last four random qualifying draws for NASCAR Cup Series races, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola has drawn the pole position, this time for Sunday afternoon’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Almirola is set to lead the field to the green flag for this 334-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) oval in Fort Worth, Texas in his #10 Ford alongside Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney in second place in his #12 Ford.
These two drivers have already shared the front row twice following random draws this season, and Almirola has not drawn outside the top five for any of the eight races he has entered in the top 12 in the championship standings with a chance at taking the pole position via the random draw.
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The random draw for this Sunday’s race was the 10th of the season, and it netted Almirola his second pole position of the year.
Following a Ford front row sweep, the highest drawing Chevrolet driver and the highest drawing Toyota driver are set to line up on the second row, and those two drivers happen to be brothers. Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kurt Busch is set to start in third place in his #1 Chevrolet and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch is set to start in fourth in his #18 Toyota.
Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick and Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski are set to start in fifth and sixth place in their #4 Ford and #2 Ford, respectively, while Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin and Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott are set to start in seventh and eighth in their #11 Toyota and #9 Chevrolet, respectively.
Team Penske’s Joey Logano and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. are set to round out the top 10 in ninth and 10th place in their #22 Ford and #19 Toyota, respectively.
The two drivers who entered this qualifying draw with a chance to draw the pole position but did not even draw top 10 starting positions are Wood Brothers Racing’s Matt DiBenedetto and Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman. They are set to start in 11th and 12th place in their #21 Ford and #88 Chevrolet, respectively.
Here is the full starting lineup for the 2020 O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Starting Lineup
1st – Aric Almirola
2nd – Ryan Blaney
3rd – Kurt Busch
4th – Kyle Busch
5th – Kevin Harvick
6th – Brad Keselowski
7th – Denny Hamlin
8th – Chase Elliott
9th – Joey Logano
10th – Martin Truex Jr.
11th – Matt DiBenedetto
12th – Alex Bowman
13th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
14th – Bubba Wallace
15th – Ryan Newman
16th – Chris Buescher
17th – Clint Bowyer
18th – William Byron
19th – Cole Custer
20th – Jimmie Johnson
21st – Austin Dillon
22nd – Matt Kenseth
23rd – Erik Jones
24th – Tyler Reddick
25th – Ryan Preece
26th – Quin Houff
27th – Garrett Smithley
28th – John Hunter Nemechek
29th – Gray Gaulding
30th – Ty Dillon
31st – J.J. Yeley
32nd – Brennan Poole
33rd – Christopher Bell
34th – Michael McDowell
35th – Joey Gase
36th – Corey LaJoie
37th – Daniel Suarez
38th – Timmy Hill
39th – B.J. McLeod
40th – Reed Sorenson
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Tune in to NBC Sports Network at 3:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 19 for the live broadcast of the 2020 O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 from Texas Motor Speedway.