NASCAR: Las Vegas starting lineup – Kevin Harvick grabs pole

Kevin Harvick has taken the pole position for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube.

The fourth race of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season is scheduled to take place this Sunday, March 7 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

For the third race in a row, the starting lineup was set based on the formula which NASCAR introduced last August after moving away from random draws to set the starting lineups for races amid the coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing absence of practice and qualifying sessions.

As a result, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick is set to start Sunday afternoon’s 267-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) oval in Las Vegas, Nevada from the pole position behind the wheel of his #4 Ford.

This pole position is his first of the season and makes him the fourth different polesitter through four races.

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Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman actually qualified for the pole position for the season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

Via the formula, teammate Chase Elliott then took the pole position for the road course race at the venue, and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin took the pole position for the race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, although he relinquished the top spot to Team Penske’s Joey Logano as a result of a pre-race penalty.

The formula used to set the starting lineup is based on the following four factors:

• 35% rank in owner standings
• 25% driver finish in previous race
• 25% car owner finish in previous race
• 15% rank of fastest lap in previous race.

The two 25% categories are effectively lumped together as one massive 50% category for full-time drivers who don’t switch cars.

Harvick ranks second, fifth, fifth and sixth place in those four categories, respectively.

Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron, who won the most recent race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, ranks 13th in the owner standings category, and he recorded the race’s fastest lap in his win. As a result, he is set to start alongside Harvick on the front row in second place behind the wheel of his #24 Chevrolet.

The only change in the starting lineup from this past Sunday’s race is that Joey Gase, not James Davison, is set to be behind the wheel of the #15 Chevrolet for Rick Ware Racing. He is set to start in 37th place.

Here is the full starting lineup for the 2021 Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Starting Lineup
1st – Kevin Harvick
2nd – William Byron
3rd – Kyle Larson
4th – Martin Truex Jr.
5th – Michael McDowell
6th – Denny Hamlin
7th – Kurt Busch
8th – Chase Elliott
9th – Alex Bowman
10th – Brad Keselowski
11th – Tyler Reddick
12th – Austin Dillon
13th – Ryan Newman
14th – Kyle Busch
15th – Joey Logano
16th – Christopher Bell
17th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
18th – Chris Buescher
19th – Ryan Preece
20th – Cole Custer
21st – Ross Chastain
22nd – Daniel Suarez
23rd – Bubba Wallace
24th – Chase Briscoe
25th – Justin Haley
26th – Ryan Blaney
27th – Anthony Alfredo
28th – Aric Almirola
29th – Erik Jones
30th – Matt DiBenedetto
31st – Garrett Smithley
32nd – Cody Ware
33rd – Corey LaJoie
34th – B.J. McLeod
35th – Josh Bilicki
36th – Quin Houff
37th – Joey Gase
38th – Timmy Hill

The Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube is set to be broadcast live on Fox from Las Vegas Motor Speedway this Sunday, March 7 beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET.