NASCAR: Las Vegas starting lineup – Kevin Harvick takes pole

Kevin Harvick took the pole position for the opening race of the round of 12 of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick has officially taken the pole position for the opening race of the round of 12 of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the South Point 400.

As calculated earlier this week, the driver of the #4 Ford took the pole position for this 267-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) oval in Las Vegas, Nevada as a result of NASCAR’s starting lineup formula, which has now been used seven times. Harvick has taken the pole position for four of those seven races.

Harvick earned the top spot by having the best combination of most recent race result (50% weight), position in the owner standings (35% weight), and rank of his fastest lap in the most recent race (15% weight) among the 12 remaining championship contenders.

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He was victorious in the most recent race Bristol Motor Speedway, and his #4 team sits leads the owner standings, as they have done after each of the last 26 races dating back to the fourth and final pre-coronavirus pandemic race at Phoenix Raceway in early March. His fastest lap at Bristol Motor Speedway ranked second among all drivers.

The driver whom he ranked behind in terms of his fastest lap and prevented him from a clean sweep in this formula was Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch. While Busch’s #18 team sits down in 10th place in the owner standings, he was able to use his fastest lap and second place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway to earn a front row starting position alongside Harvick for the South Point 400.

Only one other driver ranked in the top 10 in all three formula categories, and that driver ranked in the top seven in all of them. That driver, Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott, is set to start in third place behind the wheel of his #9 Chevrolet. He is set to start alongside Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola in fourth behind the wheel of his #10 Ford.

Team Penske’s Joey Logano and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Clint Bowyer are set to share the third row in fifth and sixth place in their #22 Ford and #14 Ford, respectively, while Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon and Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman are set to share the fourth row in seventh and eighth in their #3 Chevrolet and #88 Chevrolet, respectively.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kurt Busch and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin are set to share the fifth row in their #1 Chevrolet and #11 Toyota, respectively.

All 12 of the remaining championship contenders are guaranteed top 12 starting positions, even if their formula metric doesn’t end up being a top 12 number. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. and Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski are set to round out the remaining playoff drivers in 11th and 12th place behind the wheels of their #19 Toyota and #2 Ford, respectively.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Erik Jones and Richard Childress Racing rookie Tyler Reddick are set to lead the non-playoff drivers in 13th and 14th place behind the wheels of their #20 Toyota and #8 Chevrolet, respectively. Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney is set to lead the playoff drivers who were eliminated in the round of 16 in 15th behind the wheel of his #12 Ford.

Here is the full starting lineup for the 2020 South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Starting Lineup
1st – Kevin Harvick
2nd – Kyle Busch
3rd – Chase Elliott
4th – Aric Almirola
5th – Joey Logano
6th – Clint Bowyer
7th – Austin Dillon
8th – Alex Bowman
9th – Kurt Busch
10th – Denny Hamlin
11th – Martin Truex Jr.
12th – Brad Keselowski
13th – Erik Jones
14th – Tyler Reddick
15th – Ryan Blaney
16th – Chris Buescher
17th – Michael McDowell
18th – Jimmie Johnson
19th – Matt DiBenedetto
20th – Matt Kenseth
21st – Ryan Preece
22nd – Cole Custer
23rd – Bubba Wallace
24th – Ty Dillon
25th – John Hunter Nemechek
26th – Christopher Bell
27th – Ryan Newman
28th – William Byron
29th – Daniel Suarez
30th – Gray Gaulding
31st – Corey LaJoie
32nd – Quin Houff
33rd – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
34th – Joey Gase
35th – Brennan Poole
36th – Timmy Hill
37th – J.J. Yeley
38th – Josh Bilicki
39th – Chad Finchum

Tune in to NBC Sports Network at 7:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, September 27 for the live broadcast of the 2020 South Point 400 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway.