NASCAR: Phoenix provisional starting lineup – Chase Elliott on pole
By Asher Fair
Chase Elliott is slated to start the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 race at Phoenix Raceway from the pole position.
Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott is one of four drivers eligible to win the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series championship in the season finale at Phoenix Raceway, and based on the starting lineup formula, he is slated to start the Championship 4 race from the pole position.
Elliott is slated to start this 312-lap race around the four-turn, 1.022-mile (1.645-kilometer) oval in Avondale, Arizona from the pole position by having the best combination of most recent race result (50% weight, with 25% based on the car and 25% based on the driver), position in the owner standings (35% weight), and rank of his fastest lap in the most recent race (15% weight) among the four remaining championship contenders.
This race is the 13th race for which this formula has used, and Elliott took three pole positions for the first 12.
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Due to a rule, only the four Championship 4 drivers are able to start in the top four. Elliott took the top spot by winning the most recent race at Martinsville Speedway with the third fastest lap behind the wheel of his #9 Chevrolet. While the four Championship 4 teams are all tied for the lead in the owner standings with 5,000 points, the #9 team is officially classified as being in second place.
Team Penske’s Joey Logano is set to start alongside Elliott on the front row in second place behind the wheel of his #22 Ford after finishing in third place at Martinsville Speedway with the fifth fastest lap time. His #22 team is officially classified as leading the owner standings.
Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin, the other two drivers eligible to win the 2020 title, are set to share the second row in third and fourth place behind the wheels of their #2 Ford and #11 Toyota, respectively.
Keselowski finished in fourth place in the race at Martinsville Speedway with the eighth fastest lap time, and his #2 team is officially classified as being in third in the owner standings. Hamlin finished in 11th with the fastest lap, and his #11 team is officially classified as being in fourth.
Do make note of the fact that even if all four values for owner standings were set to first place, the top four would line up in this order.
Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney is set to lead all the non-Championship 4 drivers in fifth place behind the wheel of his #12 Ford. If not for the rule preventing non-Championship 4 from starting inside the top four, Blaney would have qualified in fourth after finishing in second at Martinsville Speedway with the second fastest lap. His #12 team sits in ninth in the owner standings.
Here is the full provisional starting lineup for the 2020 Championship 4 race at Phoenix Raceway.
Starting Lineup
1st – Chase Elliott
2nd – Joey Logano
3rd – Brad Keselowski
4th – Denny Hamlin
5th – Ryan Blaney
6th – Alex Bowman
7th – Kurt Busch
8th – Kyle Busch
9th – Clint Bowyer
10th – Aric Almirola
11th – Kevin Harvick
12th – Matt DiBenedetto
13th – Martin Truex Jr.
14th – Erik Jones
15th – Cole Custer
16th – Matt Kenseth
17th – Christopher Bell
18th – Austin Dillon
19th – Ryan Newman
20th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
21st – Tyler Reddick
22nd – Ty Dillon
23rd – Bubba Wallace
24th – Ryan Preece
25th – William Byron
26th – Jimmie Johnson
27th – John Hunter Nemechek
28th – Corey LaJoie
29th – Michael McDowell
30th – Daniel Suarez
31st – Chris Buescher
32nd – J.J. Yeley
33rd – Timmy Hill
34th – Quin Houff
35th – Brennan Poole
36th – James Davison
37th – Joey Gase
38th – Josh Bilicki
39th – Garrett Smithley
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NASCAR is expected to confirm this lineup on Wednesday morning, as they have done since this formula was introduced back in August, save for last week when the race at Texas Motor Speedway was postponed for three days due to rain and the confirmation did not come until Thursday morning. Tune in to NBC at 3:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, November 8 for the live broadcast of the Championship 4 race from Phoenix Raceway.