After actual qualifying at Road America, the starting lineup formula returned to set the starting lineup for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Excluding Daytona International Speedway, which hosted both the Daytona 500 and a road course race back in February, Atlanta Motor Speedway is slated to become the first track to host its second NASCAR Cup Series race weekend of the 2021 season this weekend.
This Sunday afternoon’s race, the Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart, had been contested at Kentucky Speedway up until last season. Instead, the four-turn, 1.54-mile (2.478-kilometer) oval in Hampton, Georgia landed a second date for the first time since 2010 this year.
After an actual qualifying session set the starting lineup for this past Sunday afternoon’s race at Road America, the starting lineup formula has returned for this Sunday afternoon’s 260-lap race, the 21st of 36 on this year’s schedule.
Here are the factors upon which the starting formula is based.
- 50% based on the finish in the most recent race
- 25% (50% of the 50%) based on the driver’s finish
- 25% (50% of the 50%) based on the car owner’s finish
- 35% based on the team’s rank in owner standings
- 15% based on the rank of the driver’s fastest lap in the most recent race
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As a result, Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott is set to start from the pole position at his home race track behind the wheel of his #9 Chevrolet. He earned this pole position by winning this past Sunday’s race at Road America and recording the fifth fastest lap in doing so. Additionally, the #9 team sits in sixth in the owner standings through 20 races.
Set to join Elliott on the front row in second place behind the wheel of his #18 Toyota is Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch. Busch is the first of four straight Joe Gibbs Racing drivers in the lineup, with points leader Denny Hamlin set to start in third behind the wheel of his #11 Toyota, Christopher Bell set to start in fourth behind the wheel of his #20 Toyota, and Martin Truex Jr. set to round out the top five in fifth behind the wheel of his #19 Toyota.
Here is the full starting lineup for the 2021 Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Starting Lineup
1st – Chase Elliott
2nd – Kyle Busch
3rd – Denny Hamlin
4th – Christopher Bell
5th – Martin Truex Jr.
6th – Kyle Larson
7th – Tyler Reddick
8th – Kurt Busch
9th – Ross Chastain
10th – Joey Logano
11th – Chase Briscoe
12th – Matt DiBenedetto
13th – Austin Dillon
14th – Brad Keselowski
15th – Ryan Blaney
16th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
17th – Alex Bowman
18th – Chris Buescher
19th – William Byron
20th – Aric Almirola
21st – Kevin Harvick
22nd – Erik Jones
23rd – Cole Custer
24th – Bubba Wallace
25th – Michael McDowell
26th – Corey LaJoie
27th – Daniel Suarez
28th – Justin Haley
29th – Ryan Newman
30th – Josh Bilicki
31st – Cody Ware
32nd – Anthony Alfredo
33rd – Bayley Currey
34th – Ryan Preece
35th – Quin Houff
36th – B.J. McLeod
37th – Garrett Smithley
Tune in to NBC Sports Network at 3:30 p.m. ET this Sunday, July 11 for the live broadcast of the Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart from Atlanta Motor Speedway.