NASCAR introduced a new way to determine starting lineups during the 2020 season, amid the ongoing absence of practice and qualifying.
That formula consists of four variables: the car's rank in the owner standings (35%), the driver's finish in the most recent race (25%), the car's finish in the most recent race (25%), and the rank of the driver's fastest lap in the most recent race (15%).
For drivers who drive the same car every race, the two categories weighted at 25% are effectively combined into one larger category weighted at 50%.
Whenever qualifying is canceled, this is the formula that is used to determine the starting lineup. But even when qualifying is not canceled, this formula is still used to determine the qualifying order on a weekly basis.
The process is simple: drivers qualify in reverse metric order.
Higher metric scores are bad, and lower metric scores are good, so the drivers with the higher scores qualify at the end of the session.
It used to be that the metric was used to create two evenly balanced groups, with the drivers whose metric scores landed in the odd ranks placed into the second round and the drivers whose metric scores landed in the even ranks placed into the first group.
The top five drivers in each group then advanced to the second round shootout for the pole position, and there were row-by-row designations based on which group each driver was in.
But that is no longer the case after an offseason rules change.
There is still a second round for superspeedway qualifying, featuring the fastest 10 drivers from the first round, but not at any tracks other than Daytona International Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway, or Talladega Superspeedway.
Additionally, group qualifying is still used at road and street courses, but only because those qualifying sessions are timed sessions, as NASCAR doesn't want everybody on the track at the same time.
The group featuring the drivers with the lower metric scores goes first, and the group featuring the drivers with the higher metric scores goes second. The groups are no longer evenly balanced based on metric score. The results are combined to determine the full starting lineup, as once again, there is no longer a second round.