NASCAR: Martinsville provisional starting lineup – Brad Keselowski on pole
By Asher Fair
Brad Keselowski is slated to start the NASCAR Cup Series round of 8 finale at Martinsville Speedway, the Xfinity 500, from the pole position.
Based on the formula which NASCAR has used to set the starting lineups for 11 recent Cup Series races, Team Penske’s Brady Keselowski is slated to start from the pole position for the third and final race of the round of 8 of the 2020 playoffs at Martinsville Speedway, the Xfinity 500.
This pole position is slated to be Keselowski’s fourth pole position of the season and his second as a result of this formula.
He is slated to start from the pole position for this 500-lap race around the four-turn, 0.526-mile (0.847-kilometer) oval in Ridgeway, Virginia by having the best combination of most recent race result, position in the owner standings, and rank of his fastest lap in the most recent race among the eight remaining championship contenders.
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Most recent race result is weighted at 50%, with 25% based on the driver and 25% based on the car, while position in the owner standings is weighted at 35% and rank of fastest lap in the most recent race is weight at 15%.
Keselowski finished in sixth place in the most recent race at Texas Motor Speedway with the third fastest lap behind the wheel of his #2 Ford, and the #2 team sits in third in the owner standings, so he was able to edge Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. for the best combination. Truex is set to start in second alongside Keselowski on the front row behind the wheel of his #19 Toyota, as he finished in second at Texas Motor Speedway with the 10th fastest lap, and his #19 team sits in seventh in the owner standings.
Truex has won the last two races at Martinsville Speedway and he and Keselowski have combined to win the last three.
Only the eight remaining championship contenders are able to start in the top eight. If this were not the case, it would have been Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch on the pole, as he won the most recent race at Texas Motor Speedway with the fourth fastest lap behind the wheel of his #18 Toyota, and his #18 team sits in ninth place in the owner standings.
Here is the full provisional starting lineup for the 2020 Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
Starting Lineup
1st – Brad Keselowski
2nd – Martin Truex Jr.
3rd – Alex Bowman
4th – Denny Hamlin
5th – Kevin Harvick
6th – Kurt Busch
7th – Joey Logano
8th – Chase Elliott
9th – Kyle Busch
10th – Ryan Blaney
11th – Christopher Bell
12th – Matt DiBenedetto
13th – William Byron
14th – Austin Dillon
15th – Cole Custer
16th – Clint Bowyer
17th – Tyler Reddick
18th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
19th – Erik Jones
20th – Aric Almirola
21st – Ryan Newman
22nd – Ryan Preece
23rd – John Hunter Nemechek
24th – Michael McDowell
25th – Ty Dillon
26th – Corey LaJoie
27th – Jimmie Johnson
28th – Chris Buescher
29th – Daniel Suarez
30th – Brennan Poole
31st – Matt Kenseth
32nd – Bubba Wallace
33rd – Josh Bilicki
34th – Timmy Hill
35th – Quin Houff
36th – TBD
37th – James Davison
38th – J.J. Yeley
39th – Joey Gase
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NASCAR is expected to confirm this lineup later this week. They have been confirming these lineups on Wednesday morning since the release of this formula, but since the race at Texas Motor Speedway was pushed back from Sunday to Wednesday, that wasn’t able to happen this week. The Xfinity 500 is set to be broadcast live on NBC beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, November 1.