NASCAR: Charlotte provisional starting lineup – Denny Hamlin on pole
By Asher Fair
Denny Hamlin is slated to start from the pole position to conclude the round of 12 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval based on NASCAR’s starting lineup formula.
For the second consecutive round of 12 race of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin is slated to start from the pole position based on NASCAR’s starting lineup formula, which has been used for eight races.
He is set to lead the field to the green flag at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval for the Bank of America Roval 400, the third and final race of the second round of the four-round, 10-race playoffs.
The driver of the #11 Toyota started from the pole position at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday afternoon and won, becoming the first driver to win from the pole position since he did so at Homestead-Miami Speedway in June.
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Hamlin is locked into the round of 8 as a result of that victory.
He took the pole position for this Sunday afternoon’s 109-lap race around the 17-turn, 2.28-mile (3.669-kilometer) roval in Concord, North Carolina by having the best combination of most recent race result (50% weight, with 25% based on car finish and the other 25% based on driver finish), 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.
Hamlin sits in the top three in all three categories; no other driver even sits in the top 17 in all three.
As noted above, Hamlin won at Talladega Superspeedway, and he ended the 27-race streak of Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick and the #4 team atop the owner standings in doing so. His fastest lap at the track ranked third among all drivers.
The only other remaining championship contender who finished in the top 11 at Talladega Superspeedway was Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott, who finished in fifth place after a penalty which dropped him to 22nd was rescinded. He is set to line up in second alongside Hamlin on the front row.
Here is the unofficial starting lineup for the 2020 Bank of America Roval 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval.
Starting Lineup
1st – Denny Hamlin
2nd – Chase Elliott
3rd – Brad Keselowski
4th – Kevin Harvick
5th – Alex Bowman
6th – Austin Dillon
7th – Martin Truex Jr.
8th – Joey Logano
9th – Kyle Busch
10th – Kurt Busch
11th – Clint Bowyer
12th – Aric Almirola
13th – William Byron
14th – Erik Jones
15th – Ryan Newman
16th – Tyler Reddick
17th – Ty Dillon
18th – Ryan Preece
19th – John Hunter Nemechek
20th – Matt DiBenedetto
21st – Chris Buescher
22nd – Brennan Poole
23rd – Matt Kenseth
24th – Ryan Blaney
25th – Quin Houff
26th – Bubba Wallace
27th – Timmy Hill
28th – Cole Custer
29th – Joey Gase
30th – Jimmie Johnson
31st – Michael McDowell
32nd – Corey LaJoie
33rd – J.J. Yeley
34th – Daniel Suarez
35th – Christopher Bell
36th – Gray Gaulding
37th – James Davison
38th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
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NASCAR is expected to confirm this lineup on Wednesday morning, just as they have been doing since the formula was introduced back in August. Tune in to NBC at 2:30 p.m. ET this Sunday, October 11 for the live broadcast of the 2020 Bank of America Roval 400 from the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval.